Time for my take on my husband’s robotic fish and Engineering Open House. I had a really good time today! If Friday was the day for field trips, then Saturday was the day for families. I came to the open house today, Saturday, and got a kick out of observing the family dynamics of those who came. Some parents seemed to have engineering in their genes and wanted to share their interests with their children. Others were clearly bewildered by the technical questions their children were asking volunteers but were being good sports trying to feed the minds of their little Einsteins. I enjoyed watching Patrick field questions from adults and children alike, and my favorite interaction was between a father and Patrick. It went something like this:
Dad: So do you like video games?
My husband: Sure!
Dad: What are some of your favorites?
(Dad sees my husband and me exchange a LOOK)
Dad, rephrasing question, with hands on son’s shoulders: What might you suggest to a TEN YEAR OLD who likes video games, who might want to do this sort of thing one day?
My husband: Um, turn off the video games and study your math!
What Dad was really searching for were suggestions for games that would promote scientific thinking or introduce basic theories of robotics, computing, mechanics, etc. Patrick and his labmate, Octavian, collaborated for a moment and suggested a robot programming game they both remembered playing.
The whole thing was a much bigger deal than I’d imagined, with official signs, posters, displays, and literature/goodies for visitors to collect. I had been picturing a few little displays in front of “the engineering building”, not realizing just how many branches of engineering have their own buildings at a big university like UW.
Patrick’s group was doing five minute demonstrations of their robotic fish every half hour. In between demonstrations we tried to check out some of the other exhibits. They ranged from hands-on activities aimed at kids to presentations on complex theories aimed at adults. Many, like the robotic fish, held appeal for many age groups. Some favorites with kids were in the chemical engineering section, where they got to make silly-putty, “walk on water”, and eat ice cream they’d seen flash-frozen with liquid nitrogen. The liquid nitrogen demonstration was pretty neat – the volunteer showed them that a bouncy ball dipped in liquid nitrogen doesn’t bounce, and that gummy worms shatter (as would their fingers, she pointed out). Kids got to hold a mini marshmallow in their mouths that had been frozen in liquid nitrogen, then puff out cold steam.
See the photos and captions for more kid-friendly exhibits.
I enjoyed some of the robotic demonstrations and the wind tunnel. Patrick liked the human powered submarines and seeing a sterling engine in action. The bottle rockets are always fun, too. There was so much we didn’t get to see!
Even just hanging around the fish pool was fun though. I got to know some of Patrick’s labmates, and several people mistook me for a volunteer and asked me questions as if I was one of the researchers. (May have had something to do with my wearing Patrick’s CalPoly Robotics Club tee shirt…) I was able to answer most of the kids’ questions, as well as the adult questions I’d heard repeated throughout the day, like “How does it know not to swim into the walls?”. When when one lady started to videotape me, however, I panicked and I actually heard myself say, “I’m just the wife!” as I yanked Patrick away from his conversation with his buddy and put him on the spot instead. ;-)
After the final demonstration of the autonomously swimming fish, Patrick sent an undergrad to the lab to fetch a remote control handset. Remote control of the fish was last year’s technology (last year’s Engineering Open House, that is). Not as technically impressive as having the fish swim autonomously, but it still entertained the crowd before we started taking down all the equipment. Amazingly, Patrick trusted me to man the controls and try my luck at maneuvering the fish around the pool.
Later, as we enjoyed a take-out picnic in a nearby park on this perfect spring day, we couldn’t stop talking about what a wonderful day we’d shared.
