Waikato open days attract budding scientists and engineers

15 July 2015

Waikato open days attract budding scientists and engineers

Building and racing small electric cars and experimenting with liquid nitrogen were the top-ranked activities by secondary school students at the University of Waikato’s Science & Engineering Open Days last week.

During each of the days, which were held as separate events, Year 11-13 students and their parents moved between sessions learning about the subjects offered by the Faculty of Science & Engineering. The selection of workshops gave potential tertiary students a taste of the fun and varied subjects available to study during a Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science(Technology) and a Bachelor of Engineering(Honors).

Science Open Day on Wednesday 8 July was attended by about 100 students and 40 parents. Students tested their cardiovascular physiology in Biological Sciences; learnt how earthquakes travel in Earth & Ocean Sciences; set liquid nitrogen alight in Chemistry, created a game using the Game Maker software in Computer Sciences, and experimented with catapults in Physics.

Engineering Open Day on Thursday 9 July attracted 100 students and 30 parents. The day focused on the Bachelor of Engineering’s five specified programmes. Workshops included creating and racing small electric cars in Mechanical Engineering, using chocolate to test how reinforcing makes materials stronger in Materials & Process Engineering; and creating a strategy to separate different sized lollies using methods such as gravity and air filtration in Chemical & Biological Engineering. Other interactive workshops included experimenting with user interfaces in Software Engineering and using electronics to make wooden mouse traps more reliable in Electronic Engineering.

“Feedback from both events was extremely positive and it was great to see so many students excited about science and engineering and getting the most out of the opportunity to talk one-on-one with our staff and current students,” says Faculty of Science & Engineering Dean Professor Bruce Clarkson.

This was the tenth annual Engineering Open Day, and the fifth annual Science Open Day. The events are held annually in July.

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