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Become an engineer for a day

By Katie Mills Giorgio

If your son or daughter has ever mentioned they want to be an engineer when they grow up they are in for a real treat starting this weekend. National Engineers Week takes place Feb. 17-23 and two local museums are inviting kids to join in the celebration.

The Iowa Children’s Museum—located in Coral Ridge Mall at 1451 Coral Ridge Ave.—will host Engineering Day on Saturday, Feb. 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is the fifth year the museum has hosted the event, which is sponsored by Rockwell Collins.

“EWeek is our largest educational outreach effort and this year more than 300 employees will volunteer their time to share the excitement of engineering with young people,” says Rockwell Collins spokeswoman Jenny Becker.

“Our leaders are committed to motivating and inspiring the next generation of engineers and innovators, and we hope to start the process early by introducing young people to engineering—taking the 'mystery' out of the profession and showing them how fun and exciting engineering can be.”

Admission to the museum will be free Saturday and kids can enjoy a variety of engineering-related activities and demonstrations. What your child would call “real life” engineers will facilitate the activities and share fascinating hands-on science experiments based on the PBS show “Design Squad.”

They can design and build a geodesic dome out of gumdrops and toothpicks. Or make a car out of rubber bands, recycled CDs and cardboard. They can also learn about acceleration and trajectory using ping pong balls, paper cups and paint stirrers to create a ball launcher. And they’ll study the principle of materials engineering by making a life-size teepee out of newspaper.

“These engineers are awesome,” says Fran Jensen, director of development and marketing for the Iowa Children’s Museum. “They talk to the kids and explain the causes and effects and how engineering is around them in everyday life. Even adults are sure to learn a thing or two.”

If you can’t make it to the museum on Saturday, the Science Station, 427 1st St. SE in Cedar Rapids, is also celebrating EWeek with a variety of activities.

On Thursday, Feb. 21, the Herbert Hoover Chapter of the Iowa Engineering Society will host their 34th annual Career Guidance Conference at the Science Station. The event is aimed at high school students interested in an engineering career and is free, but pre-registration is required.

And if you aren’t able to make it to Engineering Day at the Iowa Children’s Museum, you are in luck. The Science Station will host a similar event on Saturday, Feb. 23. They too will be offering free admission courtesy of Rockwell Collins, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Iowa Engineering Society, the International Council on Systems Engineering and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Engineers will be on hand at the Science Station to offer hands-on, kid-friendly engineering activities, whose names alone—“Kinetic Sculpture,” “Pop Fly,” “Paper Teepee,” “Telling Time Without a Watch,” “Gumdrop Dome” and “Hoop Glider”—sound like fun. There will also be a wind tunnel demonstration and the Future City exhibit created by students at Harding Middle School will be on display. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For more information on the Iowa Children’s Museum visit www.theicm.org or call 319-625-6255. For more information on the Science Station visit www.sciencestation.org or call 319-363-4629.