Discover Engineering Family Day
Washington, D.C.
February 16, 2008
Bruce Cranford
The AIAA National Capital Section (NCS) supported Engineers Week "Discover Engineering Family Day" in Washington, D.C. 16 February, 2008, at the National Building Museum (NBM). The NCS provided an expanded exhibit with volunteer members to facilitate hands‑on activities promoting engineering to students, focusing on sixth through eighth grade students. The AIAA National Capital Section demonstrated an operating wind tunnel and hands on activity of aircraft construction and flying to several thousand students, parents, and teachers. The NCS has supported Family Day since 2003. The exhibit was organized again this year by Mike Hirschberg; volunteers were: mike Hirschberg,
Michel Santos,
Ed Yarbrough,
Doug McNary,
Tom Beutner
The NCS wishes to thank all the volunteers that made the exhibit such a success

Michel Santos (Photograph by Mike Hirschberg)
Mike Hirschberg (Photograph by Mike Hirschberg)

Ed Yarbrough, Michel Santos (Photograph by Mike Hirschberg)
"Discover Engineering Family Day" has been held in Washington, D.C. since 1993. It has become one of the premier Engineers Week events introducing elementary and middle school students to the fun in engineering. Over 7,500 excited and very vocal students and parents attended this year’s event held at the NBM, 401 F St., NW, Washington, D.C., from 10 AM to 4:30 PM, on Saturday, February 16, 2008. The free one-day festival, gave young people the opportunity to enjoy a day of fun and participate in a variety of hands-on activities that explore the fields of engineering.This year’s event was bigger and better than ever. It had 26 exhibitors with hands-on activities for every one’s technical curiosity. The list of exhibitors can be found on the "Discover Engineering Family Day" web site http://www.eweekdcfamilyday.org.
New this year were the Chinese Institute of Engineers (CIE-USA), Project Management Institute Educational Foundation (PMI), the Science of Racing, the Semi-Conductor Industry Association (SIA), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.Future engineers saw a space suit, built air planes, met Digit from the hit PBS series Cyberchase, constructed structures from drinking straws, made slime, created paper helicopters, discovered what makes an object "flink" (neither float nor sink), built scale model railroad bridges, won prizes, and met professional engineers of all ages, ethnic backgrounds, male and female. The students, parents, and teachers learned how things work, as well as why they work. IBM introduced PowerUp a new 3D multi-player virtual world Internet game that went live on February 16, 2008 at Discover Engineering Family Day. FIRST Lego League sponsored robots in action,; VEX brought a robot petting zoo, and a Lego Construction Zone with a huge variety of Legos provided for the younger engineers.Two major PBS stations were represented. From Thirteen/WNET (PBS New York City) came the Cyberchase crew, and provided photo-ops with Digit and hands-on activities to show the connection between math and engineering. Also on hand was WGBH-TV, PBS Boston, with cast and crew from their new television series Design Squad, an engineering challenge show targeted to middle school kids. The Mechanical engineer and Design Squad host, Nate Ball, used his own invention, the ATLAS Powered Rope Ascender to repel up the Building Museum’s balcony.
The purpose of the Family Day event is twofold. First, the excitement of hands-on activities introduces young children to engineering concepts and engineers. Children and many adults do not understand the role of the engineer in society or, more simply, what an engineer does. Not typically part of a school's curriculum, teaching children about engineering generally falls to enrichment programs. Waiting for college or even high school to introduce the possibility of an engineering career is often too late. Capturing and fanning a 6- to 13- year-old children’s natural curiosity about the way things work--the realm of engineering--is crucial preparation for reaching middle school and high school, and will open children to the possibility of engineering as a career option.
Second, showing "real-life" applications of engineering solving real life problems, fosters recognition among parents, teachers and students of the importance and relevance of a high level of math, science and technology literacy, and ultimately, the importance of engineering in today's world.Many of the engineering organizations at the festival provided resources for additional learning experiences available to both teachers and parents.This event serves as a model for similar family programs throughout the U.S. The first "Family Night" was launched for National Engineers Week 1993 under IEEE-USA's guidance.Major support for Discover Engineering Family Day 2008 was provided by the National Engineers Week Foundation, IEEE-USA, and the National Building Museum. Local support was provided by the Navy Nuclear Propulsion Program, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers Nation's Capital Chapter, and the Maryland Society of Professional Engineers Potomac Chapter, American Institute of Aeronautics And Astronautics National Capital Section, and the Semi-Conductor Industry Association.More information is available from the "Discover Engineering Family Day" web site http://www.eweekdcfamilyday.org/. Next year Discover Engineering Family Day will be February 2009, at the NBM.(Revised 2/25/2008)
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