School of Engineering engages creative minds from area schools on first Engineering Day

To help celebrate National Engineers Week, Feb. 19-25, Liberty University’s School of Engineering welcomed nearly 200 students from public and private high schools and middle schools in the City of Lynchburg as well as  Amherst, Bedford, and Campbell counties to participate in its first Engineering Day on Feb. 23 in DeMoss Hall.

“Our primary goal for this event was service to the community, so we wanted to give them an opportunity to see something that they wouldn’t see at their schools,” said Dr. Diana Schwerha, chair of the computer, electrical, and industrial and systems engineering departments.

That included School of Engineering Dean Dr. Mark Horstemeyer’s interactive demonstration of an electromagnetic device, the Tesla Coil invented by Nikola Tesla, that circulates electric sparks through the air using alternating current (AC) power.

All five School of Engineering programs — mechanical, civil, computer, electrical, and industrial and systems — were represented by Liberty students and professors. Schwerha said there was something for everyone, and the event piqued students’ wonder and fascination over scientific concepts.

“We would like them to learn about something they didn’t know about so that it sparks some interest that they might go into the field in the future,” she said. “The thing people don’t realize is engineering is very broad. What a civil engineer does is totally different from what an industrial engineer does. So being able to see the variety of jobs and tasks and (advances) in technologies in one place is invaluable.”

Students rotated between hands-on sessions led by members of the school’s 12 competition teams, who showed them practical applications for engineering concepts through their projects, ranging from constructing a concrete canoe to manufacturing rockets.

“We had nine teams presenting, and they did a terrific job and the students all loved it,” Schwerha said. “They soaked it up. The biggest thing for the students is that they got to go have fun, be exposed to engineering, learn things they didn’t know, and hopefully choose it for their careers. It’s a great career choice — fun, interesting, engaging, and challenging.”

Robert Davis and Paul Salazar, juniors on the first-year, 20-student concrete canoe competition team showed photos and illustrations of the project to the students, followed by a Q&A session. The team recently completed the manufacturing phase, and is preparing to test their canoe at Lake Hydaway.

Other School of Engineering teams represented included the Vanguard Robotics team, which is working on a simulated Mars rover exploration; the Human Powered Vehicle Competition (HPVC) team that made its model vehicles available for students to sit inside; and the Simeo competition team, which demonstrated how it used industrial systems engineering skills to optimize a soccer stadium using computer simulation.

National Engineers Week is held the week of President’s Day every year in honor of George Washington, the first president of the United States who is also recognized as its first engineer for his surveying work and advocacy of engineering and scientific advancement during his administration.

Engineering students from colleges and universities around the country as well as various industries take advantage of the week to promote and demonstrate their projects and achievements. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects are also emphasized in collaboration with local schools to raise awareness of the value of pursuing an education in those fields.