Campus Visit

ENGINEERING EXPERIENCE:  Saturday morning we pointed our car in the direction of the University of Washington campus for a special event, Engineering Discovery Days.

We parked in the northeast part of the campus and made our way to the information booth. There, we picked up a map showing us which building on campus were involved in the event. There were so many things to see and do, it would have been impossible to fit it all into the four-hour time frame. However, we covered a lot of ground, as the photos will show and the kids will tell you. 

We started out by visiting some tents outside of the mechanical engineering building. There, we learned about carbon fiber and composite cars ...

 and concrete canoes!

The kids tested their engineering chops by building a small structure which was then tested on an earthquake simulator.

Their structure swayed, but it didn't collapse!

Next, we went into the mechanical engineering building. 

In one lab, we learned how sound waves produce specific patterns.

In the same building, we had a tour of WOOF3D, a 3D printing lab that is an interdisciplinary effort. 
          
They had a number of items on display which had been printed on-site. They included everything from art objects to prehistoric bones to prosthetics. 

The young man hosting the tour of the printing lab told us a lot about the different types of materials they use in the printers, and the pros and cons of each.
               
From there, we found our way to an off-the-beaten-path lab all about marine renewable energy. 

 We had the place to ourselves, and a number of enthusiastic engineering students taught CJ and Annabelle about harnessing (water) wave energy.

Associate Professor Brian Polagye showed us some neat videos of the Azura Wave Energy Converter that's operating off Hawaii right now. How fortunate we were to have such knowledgeable people introducing us to such an interesting, important topic. 

Our next stop was the Paul G. Allen Center. It was our very first visit there.

 It has a lovely, sky-high atrium in the center. 

 Annabelle's hair was standing on end at this display. 

The kids were happy to be handed some UW M&Ms.

And they were also happy to get a chance to check out some science-based games thanks to the Center For Game Science.

We visited with some engineering students who were working on a system that incorporates atmospheric sensors (humidity and air pollutants, for instance) into a cell-phone sized unit.

 I asked about the cost of producing such a unit, and it sounded like it could be done for under $100.
The kids each even got to play a banana piano. Yes, really!

When we got out of the Allen Center, we found that the skies were turning blue. Hooray!

We headed toward some tents in the grassy space at Rainier Vista, just south of Drumheller Fountain. 

There, the kids made some silly putty (a combination of glue, Borax and water).

We also talked with a club that is competing in a build a better Mars rover competition. 

And CJ and Annabelle worked together to build a liquid (water) fueled rocket. They named it Rocket McRocketface.

It flew about 200 feet, I'd estimate. 

In the Electrical Engineering Building, I couldn't help but notice a posting about a glowing pickle. Intrigued, we had to track it down.

Turns out a pickle can rather dramatically have electricity flowing through it which does, in fact, cause it to glow. And smoke. Have you ever smelled a smoking pickle? I didn't think so.

Here's what CJ had to say about his experience there. ...

The University of Washington recently held an event called the Engineering Discovery Days. According to UW's website, "At Engineering Discovery Days, students and faculty from all UW engineering departments share their work with students, teachers, families and the community." This means that they share their ideas and inventions with visitors looking to learn more about engineering at the University of Washington. There were several different booths and inventions that we saw at the Engineering Discovery Days, and I would like to share some of them with you. 

One of the first inventions we saw upon entry was a unique mix of concrete and styrofoam. That might sound odd to many people, but it turned out to have certain uses, on of which was making concrete boats. As we noticed at the stand, the solidified mixture could actually float, making for stronger boats. At a nearby stand, there was a station where we could hear different aquatic noises, and try to match them up with environmental sounds or animals. As it turns out, seals can actually be very loud and annoying, while whales make countless different cries and calls.

There was another station where we could build small structures, and see how well it would hold up against a shaking machine, simulating the effects of an earthquake. There were multiple different construction pieces, and we could see which setups were more effective than others (for example: with two supporting rods work better poking diagonally into the roof than poking straight up into the roof.) In the end, our building almost fell, but it manages to stick together. I think it would be interesting to see other people's buildings and how well they did against the machine?

One of my favorite parts of the event was a station where we could actually build miniature soda-bottle rockets, fill them with fuel, put them in a launcher, and see how far they would launch. Annabelle and I built our rocket with three relatively small fins on it, and we labeled the rocket the "Rocket McRocketface," named after the notorious Boaty McBoatface. Rocket McRocketFace managed to fly pretty far into the field, and we got to see other people's rocket designs, which had varying degrees of success.

Lastly, my favorite part of the event was probably the "Glowing Pickles" event, where they would actually show us how to make parts of pickles glow (no, seriously.) The showcase started out with our instructors telling us why lightning shoots to the ground, due to the electrons moving from a place with high potential to a place with low potential. They told us that something similar would happen with how they make pickles glow. They took different pickles, which included zesty, sweet, and regular dill pickles. When they hooked the pickles up to a machine, one end of the pickle would glow. Apparently, the reason this happens is because again, the electrons are moving from a place with high potential from a place with low potential, with the amount of juice in the pickle allowing them to travel better. In order from least glow to most glow, the pickles were sweet, dill, and zesty.

And here are Annabelle's observations ...

Engineering Weekend was an event at the University of Washington. They have exhibits about different kinds of engineering all across campus! That means there’s a lot to look at. I’ll tell you about what I saw.

The first place we went was to a station about concrete that can float. Crazy, right? Well, this concrete had little pieces of Styrofoam as opposed to rocks. They’re working on making a canoe out of the concrete!

Another tent we went to had us make “silly polymers”, homemade Silly Putty! All you need to do is get some Elmer’s white glue in a disposable cup. Then you add food coloring to your choice. Then, take some borax in a cup. Then add just enough water do dissolve it and pour it into your glue. Then stir it with a Popsicle stick and watch it turn into putty! Right next to that tent was one where you could build a rocket! CJ and I chose a slim bottle and put a nosecone and three fins on it. We named it Rocket McRocketFace. Rocket McRocketFace was one of the most stable rockets I saw! It was really fun at Engineering weekend, and that’s not even the whole campus!

As many times as I've been to the UW campus, I feel like I've only seen a fraction of it. Each trip is like a new adventure.

For instance, I'd never seen the columns pictures above before. We found them by accident, traveling a path with a 'what's down here?' mentality.

 What a great day!

Earthy

REACHING OUT:  When we're out and about, we try to pack along an art supplies bag with us at all times, because Annabelle just churns it out nonstop. If we were to keep every drawing of hers, we'd need to live in the far, far, far, rural hinterlands, just to be able to afford the warehouse space for all the papers. 

So one thing I've been encouraging her to do is share her art with others. As in, give it to someone who would *love* it. This afternoon presented one such opportunity. We were at a local restaurant and there was a family with a young (about 11 month old, I'd estimate) child at a table near us. The child was very precocious and was actively making eye contact and trying to communicate with us (in his case, given his age, it was shrill squeals). At one point, I suggested Annabelle send a drawing over to their table. She did, and the child was absolutely entranced. 

In fact, even though the child couldn't yet speak, he immediately started using the American Sign Language motions for the word "more." (A number of parents teach their infants ASL as a way to communicate.)

Seeing the wee one passionately gesturing "more, more, more" was a rather ringing endorsement that Annabelle's drawings were pleasing to the eye. 

The parents acknowledged the young one's "more" symbol and thankfully Annabelle had another drawing to hand him. And another. The last one she passed the family was the photo up top, the panda with the star. The parents were so appreciative, and the mom shared they sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" to him every night at bed time. It was funny, the parents were so protective of the drawings, making sure their not-quite-yet toddler didn't mar them in any way. Bet they're going in the baby book. :)

FEELING BLUE:  Today, our calendar included a full day workshop at the University of Washington for Engineering Day.

Alas, those plans were scuttled when CJ woke up with a cold. He just wasn't up to traipsing around the acres of awesomeness the event would entail. 

So, we kept our activities lowkey. We delivered a plant stand to Mukilteo and played a vintage MAD Magazine board game (which CJ won).

That made him feel better. :)

EARTH DAY: And then there's this, an appropriate parting thought for Earth Day ... 
https://youtu.be/p86BPM1GV8M

Birthdays

BIRTHDAY BOY:  And just like that, CJ wakes up one day and he's a teenager. What better way to mark that than a terrible breakfast of doughnuts and Black Label Mountain Dew (fancy sauce!).

In the early afternoon, we headed up to Everett and went to the coolest collectibles store around, Bobakhan, where CJ scored another item for his Cantina Band collection. From there it was on to Jimmy Mac's Roadhouse for lunch (CJ's choice).

Next on the agenda: A boat ride across Puget Sound, from Mukilteo to Whidbey Island. Here was our ride approaching. 

Its name was the Tokitae. That means "nice day, pretty colors" in Chinook jargon. Very fitting for our trip, I'd say!

It was a gorgeous afternoon on the sound. Hardly a breeze, sunny and warm, with brilliant blue skies and water.

We saw sailboats ... 

 and other ferries. 

 We walked 'round the ship ... 

 and stopped to puzzle for a moment.

We made a brief stopover in Clinton, WA, ...

and then headed right back to Mukilteo.

 Seagulls seemed to like to use the ferry as a floating island.

 This bird caught a ride for awhile.

 On the return trip, we had a nice view of the Mukilteo lighthouse as we approached port.

 After that, we were back southbound, stopping in Edmonds to hit Another Castle, a great retro game store and arcade!

CJ's birthday wish was to beat the game CarnEvil for the first time. With Annabelle's help and about $10 in quarters, they did it!

We continued south, stopping in the Green Lake neighborhood to pick up CJ's cake, which is almost entirely ice cream. The writing on top was his idea. ...

All in all, a big, busy, fun day! Happy #13, CJ!

NEEDLED: This morning, an email alerted me to the fact that April 21, 2016, marks the Space Needle's 54th birthday.

She's looking pretty awesome for 54, don't you think? As iconic and futuristic as ever!

 And how nice of the Needle to host its own birthday party, complete with Full Tilt ice cream. 

Called Wheedle on the Needle, it's a special Full Tilt flavor, available only at the Space Needle on most days. Below, you can see Jeff Maxwell, executive chef of the landmark's rotating restaurant SkyCity, making sure Annabelle got her ice cream. :)

 Oh, and there was FREE SALMON as well. Mmmm! 

We've been to Seattle Center four times in the last five days!