In the physics class at Riordan, students spend their time charging through the difficult fields of electricity and magnetism to take on the challenge of bringing these shocking concepts to life. 

Taking advantage of Riordan’s growing approach to a more project-based learning environment and the Engineering department’s electronic equipment, an idea was conducted.

“Hence, the FM radio kit project was born,” explained Stuart Kaler, the course instructor. “They learned in class what resistors, capacitors, inductors do theoretically.  Now, they get to hold, handle and assemble these components onto a printed circuit board – and if lucky…turn it on at the end and have a working FM radio.”

The FM (frequency modulation) radio broadcasts audio through the frequency of electromagnetic waves. Like the radios that play in cars, people can listen to music, news, and talk hosts across multiple stations.

Students created the FM radios through an Amazon radio kit. Soldering capacitors and resistors onto a premade board, they maneuvered the creation piece by piece. 

“We followed the instructions that came with the kit, soldering things where they belonged,” said Crystal Wei ’26. “Sometimes you’ll need a third hand to help you hold the capacitor or some other thing, but most of the process was easy to understand and fun to conduct.”

Out of the 26 students in the course, over three-fourths of the class were able to build working radios. 

“Mine definitely worked. Although the process wasn’t that complicated, I still felt quite accomplished,” added Wei. 

Even for the students whose radios failed to function, many students reported that they had learned a lot in constructing the radio. 

Andy Siu ’26 commented, “I learned about all the different components needed to make a radio, what they do, and how they work. I learned the history of how capacitors, speakers, and resistors were created and how they are used in everyday electronics like a radio.” 

When looking to the future, Kaler revealed the ideas he has in store for following classes.

“We can expand the use of the Engineering department to include more electrical engineering projects at this school,” he said.  “Just the sheer joy of building something – and have it work on the first try, or trouble shooting it and getting it to work – is well worth the time and effort.”