Thornton Academy Postscripts Alumni Magazine Spring 2015 | Page 8

TA parent and mechanical engineer Charlie Dupuis of
Steam Turbine Services reviews HVAC system design with
students in Thornton Academy’s engineering class.

Students Study STEM Center Design
With students on campus studying engineering, you can never tell
what sort of project they’ll dive into. Now that they’re studying
mechanical engineering and the STEM Center building is under
construction, students are studying the design and installation of
the HVAC ductwork and equipment.
With encouragement from Timothy Hebert of Hebert Construction,
faculty member Geoffrey Slack invited design mechanical engineer
Charlie Dupuis of Steam Turbine Services to class. As a parent of
Ethan ‘16 and Zachary ‘17, Mr. Dupuis is already familiar with TA
and becoming more so as an engineer working on the STEM Center
project. Try to imagine a lecture on building design, heat transfer
systems, and “thermal comfort.” In other words: why buildings
shouldn’t sweat and what to do to stop it.
During his visit, Dupuis spoke to students about an engineering
career. He said, “Your engineering skills will always be transferable.
You can take them anywhere in the world. The marketability of
engineering is such that you’re not going to want for work...But, if
you want to work worldwide you better be able to use the metric
system.” Mr. Slack explained that students will get to witness
firsthand the installation of the ductwork and HVAC equipment
sometime in April.
“Using the science wing construction site as a teaching forum
at Thornton Academy is the perfect example of one of Harvard
Graduate School of Education’s Pathways to Prosperity Report
recommendations— ‘industry must provide greatly expanded
opportunities for work-linked learning, becoming full partners in
the national effort to prepare young adults for success,’” said Schoolto-Work Counselor Linda Roth.

8

The new STEM Center
addition to the Scamman
Building takes shape, rising
out of the snowbanks with
the assistance of a crane.
The new Center will open
in September, offering four

laboratories (two chemistry, two biology) and four
general–purpose classrooms. Because TA is an
independent town academy, no tax dollars are used
to fund this construction
project.