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Celebrate Engineering this Saturday at the Clay Center

Marshmallow bridges? Robots? Eggs falling from the sky? It sounds like a fantasy world, but this Saturday, February 22, the Clay Center will host Discover Engineering Family Fun Day, where raining eggs and candy bridges will be the norm.

In celebration of National Engineers Week, WVU Tech students and faculty will be hosting eight activity booths covering everything from biology to electrical engineering.

“It’s an exciting week for WVU Tech as we promote this essential field and show young students that there are untold possibilities in engineering,” said WVU Tech First Year Programs Coordinator Kimberlyn Gray, Ph.D.

Participants can stop by the biology booth to take an electrocardiogram (EKG) test to record the electrical activity taking place in their hearts, or visit with chemical engineering students to see how fruit can function like a battery. The electrical engineering booth will light up the day as students build simple circuits to power light bulbs while the Society of Automotive Engineers shows off its custom-built Baja racing buggy.

The civil and mechanical engineering departments will be teaming up for marshmallow bridges and the popular egg drop, allowing participants to build and test a device that protects a falling egg. It’s no easy feat – out of 600 eggs dropped last year, only 20 survived.

And then there are robots. The Engineering Technology Organization and Association of Computing Machinery will be displaying programmable robots, human-powered robots, and even a self-piloting mini-truck.

Girl Scouts will participate in the day’s festivities from 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. The event opens to the general public from 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.