April 20, 2011
Engineering Discovery Days happening April 22-23
A visitor tries the popular walk-on-water exhibit.
Dont be surprised if walking across campus you encounter someone playing an invisible drum kit or a swimming pool filled with robotic fish. Tomorrow and Saturday, the UW campus will be filled with engineering exhibits on display for the Engineering Discovery Days, formerly known as Engineering Open House.
Fridays program, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., is mainly geared at school groups in grades 4 through 8 but is open to the campus community and the public. Saturdays program is also open but is aimed at high-school students, community college students, potential UW transfer students and their families. Exhibits will be on display from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and there will be a day-long program of talks on topics of interest to potential applicants, such as admissions and financial aid.
The public event dates back more than 80 years and has always been popular with visitors of all ages. Favorite returning exhibits include laser tag, tours of the Kirsten Wind Tunnel, flight simulators, student-built race cars, and the walk-on-water demonstration in Benson Hall.
But Discovery Days also includes many current student and faculty research projects. New exhibits this year include a wireless power demonstration, a chess-playing robot, medical implants, a car used to study driver distraction, a student-designed portable ultrasound device for use in rural Africa, and an electric vehicle conversion system that won this years UW Environmental Innovation Challenge.
The Engineering Discovery Days program includes a full list of exhibits and locations. A one-page map of exhibit locations is also available. The event is free, but attendees are asked to register in advance.
See a preview of the dancing quadrocopters that will be flying in the Allen Center atrium:
