DO-IT at the Engineering Open House

Lisa Stewart, DO-IT staff
Picture of a student using a braille machine.
A student uses a Braille machine to type his name at the Engineering Open House.

Once again the University of Washington's Engineering Open House was a huge success, with over 7,500 parents, students, and teachers from around Washington and neighboring states in attendance! There were exhibits from every engineering department and program, as well as a number of outreach programs that help students increase their involvement in science, technology, engineering, and math. A few of the exciting hands-on activities available for students to try were a giant wind tunnel, robotic cars, a lesson in aerodynamics and paper science through the assembly of paper airplanes, and virtual technology stations.

DO-IT hosted both an informational booth and an AT (assistive technology) demonstration area where we were a big hit with our low-tech Braille machine and our more high-tech wheelchair computer game, screen-reading software demo, and head mouse solitaire game. We also hosted a pizza lunch that offered old and new Scholars and AccessSTEM participants and their families a chance to meet and get to know each other or just visit with friends.

The Engineering Open House continues to get better every year and is a great event that exposes students to the many dynamic fields available to them in engineering.