3-D: Short for three-dimensional. This term is an adjective for something that has features that can be described in three dimensions — height, width and length.
acoustic: Having to do with sound or hearing.
audio: Having to do with sound.
broadcast: To cast — or send out — something over a relatively large distance. A farmer may broadcast seeds by flinging them by hand over a large area. A loudspeaker may send sounds out over a great distance. An electronic transmitter may emit electromagnetic signals over the air to a distant radio, television or other receiving device. And a newscaster can broadcast details of events to listeners across a large area, even the world.
colleague: Someone who works with another; a co-worker or team member.
contract: To activate muscle by allowing filaments in the muscle cells to connect. The muscle becomes more rigid as a result.
digital: (in computer science and engineering) An adjective indicating that something has been developed numerically on a computer or on some other electronic device, based on a binary system (where all numbers are displayed using a series of only zeros and ones).
electric charge: The physical property responsible for electric force; it can be negative or positive.
electric current: A flow of electric charge — electricity — usually from the movement of negatively charged particles, called electrons.
electronics: Devices that are powered by electricity but whose properties are controlled by the semiconductors or other circuitry that channel or gate the movement of electric charges.
engineer: A person who uses science to solve problems. As a verb, to engineer means to design a device, material or process that will solve some problem or unmet need. (v.) To perform these tasks, or the name for a person who performs such tasks. An electrical engineer designs, builds or analyzes electrical equipment.
environment: The sum of all of the things that exist around some organism or the process and the condition those things create. Environment may refer to the weather and ecosystem in which some animal lives, or, perhaps, the temperature and humidity (or even the placement of things in the vicinity of an item of interest).
field: (in physics) A region in space where certain physical effects operate, such as magnetism (created by a magnetic field), gravity (by a gravitational field), mass (by a Higgs field) or electricity (by an electrical field).
innovation: (v. to innovate; adj. innovative) An adaptation or improvement to an existing idea, process or product that is new, clever, more effective or more practical.
manufacturing: The making of things, usually on a large scale.
media: A term for the ways information is delivered and shared within a society. It encompasses not only the traditional media — newspapers, magazines, radio and television — but also digital outlets, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp. The newer, digital media are sometimes referred to as social media. The singular form of this term is medium.
membrane: A barrier which blocks the passage (or flow through) of some materials depending on their size or other features. Membranes are an integral part of filtration systems. Many serve that same function as the outer covering of cells or organs of a body.
mental health: A term for someone’s emotional, psychological and social well-being. It includes how people handle stress and manage fear or anxiety. Poor mental health can be triggered by disease or merely reflect a short-term response to life’s challenges.
physical: (adj.) A term for things that exist in the real world, as opposed to in memories or the imagination. It can also refer to properties of materials that are due to their size and non-chemical interactions (such as when one block slams with force into another).
piezoelectric: An adjective describing the ability of certain materials (such as crystals) to develop an electric voltage when deformed, or squeezed.
prototype: A first or early model of some device, system or product that still needs to be perfected.
scenario: A possible (or likely) sequence of events and how they might play out.
sibling: An offspring that shares the same parents (with its brother or sister).
sound wave: A wave that transmits sound. Sound waves have alternating swaths of high and low pressure.
system: A network of parts that together work to achieve some function. For instance, the blood, vessels and heart are primary components of the human body’s circulatory system. Similarly, trains, platforms, tracks, roadway signals and overpasses are among the potential components of a nation’s railway system. System can even be applied to the processes or ideas that are part of some method or ordered set of procedures for getting a task done.
technology: The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry — or the devices, processes and systems that result from those efforts.
unique: Something that is unlike anything else; the only one of its kind.
vibrate: To rhythmically shake or to move continuously and rapidly back and forth.
virtual reality: A three-dimensional simulation of the real world that seems very realistic and allows people to interact with it. To do so, people usually wear a special helmet or glasses with sensors.
wave: A disturbance or variation that travels through space and matter in a regular, oscillating fashion.
