Coming Up: Engineering Toward a Better Tomorrow
Thousands expected for 2004 Engineering Open House
- Students from around Washington gather annually at the UW Engineering Open House to learn about the discipline
More than 6,000 students, teachers and parents are expected to visit the UW at the end of April for the annual Engineering Open House, the largest event of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. Set for April 30 and May 1, the open house will feature more than 100 exhibits and hands-on activities, set in and around the engineering buildings on campus.
Topics include magnetic levitation cars, liquid nitrogen ice cream, bioengineering replacement body parts, concrete canoes, a human-powered submarine, display of a Mars Viking Lander and a Rube Goldberg competition in which students compete to see who can come up with the most complicated contraption to perform a simple task.
The event has grown steadily in recent years, with increasing numbers of teachers opting to take a field trip with their class to learn more about what engineering is and how engineers go about their work.
“It’s a valuable event these are the engineers of tomorrow,” said Engineering Dean Denice Denton. “We want to capture their interest early on by showing them how exciting our world really is.”
The open house will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 30 and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 1. It is open to all, free of charge.
For more information, check the Engineering Open House Web site.
Innovations in biomedical research
Curtis R. Carlson, president and CEO of SRI International, will speak on April 2 at the Department of Bioengineering’s 16th Annual Robert F. Rushmer lecture. Carlson’s topic is “Biomedical Research and the Need for a Process of Innovation.” SRI International is an independent, non-profit research institute based in California with additional locations around the country and in Japan and Korea.
For more information, check the UW Department of Bioengineering Web site.
Penguins, nanotechnology and genomic health care
The 2004 UW Science Forum Lecture series, sponsored in part by the College of Engineering, kicks off on April 20 with an address on penguins and environmental variation. Other topics include the link between biology and nanotechnology, genomic health care, and the changing face of the Arctic.