'Freshman Engineering Day'
Wednesday At WKU
December 04, 2002
Bowling Green, Ky. - Wobbler Steam Engines, Bug Robots and a Concrete Toboggan will be on display Wednesday (Dec. 11) during "Freshman Engineering Day" at Western Kentucky University.
Western's Department of Engineering will celebrate the achievements of more than 90 freshmen in the civil, electrical and mechanical programs. The event begins at 1 p.m. in the Garrett Conference Center ballroom following an informal luncheon with students, parents and faculty.
"These freshmen experiences give the students a sense of identity as members of the engineering community at Western," said Joel Lenoir, Layne Professor of Mechanical Engineering. "Building a Wobbler or a robotic bug has become a rite of passage for our freshmen.
"The last few weeks have been noisy and busy as students have been working on their projects. We like to call it the "sound of retention" for students who are involved as freshmen tend to have a higher rate of graduation from college."
Last year, the department hosted a " Windup" for mechanical Engineering students. This year, the department included all three of its Engineering 101 classes.
Once again, mechanical engineering students will display their wobbler steam engines. Each mechanical engineering student designed, machined and tested a small steam engine.
The electrical engineering students worked to design and build small autonomous "bug robots." The bugs will be moving around the room, using simple programmed movements to complete a task.
The civil engineering students will display their concrete toboggan, new to the program this year. Building off the success of the concrete canoe, the toboggan is under consideration as a new competition for civil engineering students.
For more information, contact the Department of Engineering at (270) 745-2461. More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via E-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
