April 21, 1998
UW College of Engineering Open House shows why there’s never been a more exciting time to be an engineer
With robots exploring Mars, cars navigating themselves around town and computers beating world chess champions, there’s never been a more exciting time to be an engineer. Students and families from throughout Puget Sound can see for themselves at the Uni versity of Washington College of Engineering Open House.
Featuring dozens of interactive and educational exhibits, the open house will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, April 24, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturd ay, April 25, on the UW campus. Admission is free.
“The open house is a great opportunity for students, teachers and parents to learn more about the exciting field of engineering,” said Denice Denton, dean of the College of Engineering. “We live in a hi gh-tech society and it is important that young people today become literate about science and technology in order to be productive and contributing citizens. At the open house, we will showcase many different demonstrations and hands-on experiments that i llustrate the fascinating work going on in engineering today.”
Interactive exhibits will allow visitors of all ages to explore the world of engineering by:
? Learning how to fly in an airplane simulator or testing their airplane design skills in a pa per airplane contest
? Making a piece of paper from recycled newsprint
? Using computer software to do morph special effects just like in the movies
? Taking part in an Internet scavenger hunt
? Competing in a product assembly game that pi ts traditional manufacturing techniques against modern “just-in-time” methods or
? Designing a personalized computer screen saver that they can take home with them.
Among the unusual and interesting items on display at the open house will be: an env ironmentally friendly car that runs on liquid nitrogen, a championship concrete canoe and a human-powered submarine built by UW engineering students, the latest Kenworth truck, landing gear from a Boeing 747, a robot showing off its industrial assembly sk ills and new software that soon will allow Seattle-area bus riders to look on their computer to see if their bus is on time.
In addition, representatives from companies such as Boeing, IBM, Microsoft and Weyerhauser will present mini-lectures on the cha llenges and opportunities engineers face in the working world. Representatives of the College of Engineering also will be on hand to answer questions about engineering education programs at the UW.
Major sponsors of the open house are Microsoft and Visi o.
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For more information, contact Paul Golding at (206) 543-8779 or golding@engr.washington.edu.
