Mark Brown, branch chief MPDL; Murray Swanson, biomedical engineering technician; and John Cesca, engineering technician, provided the Vanderpool Film crew with lengthy interviews and in-depth demonstrations of the services provided by the MPDL shop.

Lab TV is the Department of Defense’s new initiative to spark interest in science, math, and technology among middle school-aged children.

LabTV is a web-based program that will feature a new DoD science or technology laboratory each week during the school year. The episodes will be three to four fast-paced minutes of information, imagery, and animation presented by scientists and engineers.

‘‘The DoD and Army’s initiative to spark the interest of America’s youth in the subjects of math and science is commendable and worth the effort,” said Brown, who received his degree in mechanical engineering. ‘‘Our country’s ability to solve today’s complex problems, compete in a global economy, and the very defense of our great country presents significant challenges. And although we stand on the shoulders of giants, our future success will require a great amount of preparation and work; our nation’s youth learning math and science is a great start.”

The Lab TV initiative will highlight topics in 36 laboratories throughout the military. The Army, Navy and Air Force have been given the opportunity to film 12 topics each for the 2008⁄2009 school year.

‘‘Lab TV showcases amazing science and engineering topics from DoD labs in an effort to get kids excited about science and math,” said Marilyn Vanderpool, producer and writer for Vanderpool Films.

The MPDL shop and its personnel have been chosen to represent one of the 12 Army laboratories. The shop will show off its unique ability to take an idea and transform it from conception to 3-D sketches to raw materials, such as fiberglass, wood, and metal, and finally into a full-scale prototype.

‘‘These guys provide a valuable and fascinating service to the military. We [Vanderpool Films] think that kids will be very interested in the ‘engineering design process’ used by Brown and the rest of the MPDL team,” said Vanderpool. ‘‘The shop works with a vast array of materials and has a dozen of very cool machines. They really make engineering look like fun.”

The Vanderpool Films crew followed the MPDL engineering technicians through the process of brainstorming, computer 3-D design, and through the fabrication of the finished prototype.

According to Robert McGahern, director NDEP, through Lab TV, the middle school audience will see how exciting the work of government scientists and engineers can be.

The hope to inspire students to value math and science education so that in the future they may pursue opportunities that will lead to rewarding and productive careers.

‘‘The children today are the great future scientists and leaders tomorrow,” said Col. Brian J. Lukey, commander, USAMMDA. ‘‘We hope to spark an interest in this highly-charged generation to catalyze unimaginable inventions in the near future for better health and quality of life for all.”

The National Math and Science Initiative acknowledge that American students are falling behind the rest of the world in the essential subjects of math and science.

Elementary school students are considered to be highly competitive in these areas. However, as they reach their high school years, they become less and less competitive.

As a part of Lab TV, USAMMDA’s MPDL shop will be able to reach out to students at the impressionable middle school-age years. The crew of the MPDL shop will have the opportunity to inspire students to become engineers.

‘‘It was an honor to play a small role in such a large responsibility of motivating, engaging, and teaching today’s young adults,” said Brown. ‘‘Each of us has those people in our lives, family, friends, teachers, or co-workers that have inspired us to reach for something higher. Clearly, the hope here is to do the same.”