The Engineering Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder will hum with activity this week as engineering students celebrate Engineering Days on Wednesday through Friday and complete semester-long design projects for demonstration to the community at the Engineering Design Expo on Saturday.
Engineering Days is an annual celebration of the engineering profession organized by the student government and honor societies. Activities include an egg drop, rocket launch and other fun activities for students.
The college egg drop will begin Thursday at 1 p.m. at the base of the Engineering Office Tower. Students are challenged to build contraptions that will protect a raw egg when dropped from an eighth floor window. Prizes will be awarded for departmental winners as well as for the best use of engineering principles, most destroyed, largest volume, crowd pleaser and judges' choice.
Students will launch balsa-wood rockets Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Business Field, south of the Engineering Center. A complete schedule of all activities is posted in the Engineering Center lobby.
The Design Expo will display the work of hundreds of engineering students, ranging from first-year students to seniors on Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. at the Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory. Projects will be set up both inside and outside, and will include such new inventions as a climate-control vest, blooming chair and multifunctional umbrella. Various Rube Goldberg devices will be demonstrated as well as a formula race car and vertical ascent and landing aircraft for atmospheric monitoring.
Volunteers from industry, government and the community serve as judges for the event, rating each project on its originality, craftsmanship, grasp of engineering principles, effectiveness and presentation. An awards ceremony will be held at 3 p.m. and prizes will be given to the best project in each category. Attendees can vote for their favorite project to win the "People's Choice" award.
The ITL Laboratory is located on Regent Drive south of Colorado Avenue. For more information, call 303-492-7222 or go to itll.colorado.edu.