Aspiring engineers, young and old, can take part in a special week of family events to celebrate National Engineers Week in Galway.
The activities, hosted by NUI Galway, will allow visitors to take part in experiments, workshops and demonstrations that include puppetry, Lego building, and a display of antique engineering. And for those more serious about the profession, the week which runs from February 25 to March 3, will allow the public to meet practicing engineers and IT specialists.
Highlights of the event will include a K’Nex bridge building contest, an eco-house design challenge, a renewable energy demonstration station, water treatment experiments, and robotics.
Professor Gerard Lyons, dean of the College of Engineering and Informatics, says engineering is an exciting profession.
"Everything around you has been engineered in some way, yet you may not see the engineers behind the scenes. Engineers take maths and science from the lab to invent, design, and build things that matter. By dreaming up creative and practical solutions, engineers are changing the world all the time."
Transition year students will be able to participate in a two-day ‘Youth Enterprise Ideation Camp’, solving real world challenges using technology. At the end of the camp teams will present their ideas to a professional jury and winners will go forward to a national competition at Intel, Leixlip in April 2013. Other activities include an interactive engineering show for primary school pupils, ‘Airmazing’, a second-level event which will re-imagine the works of pioneering Irish structural engineer Peter Rice, and an event that will include the local Coderdojo Club.
"We encourage you to come and explore engineering through cool, fun and exciting demonstrations, " says Professor Lyons," and meet with practicing engineers and IT specialists, learn about robotics, mobile phone apps, sports engineering, building design, renewable energies, medical implants and much more.”
Additional events include a public talk on cyberbullying by Brendan Smith of the Digital Enterprise Research Institute at NUI Galway. Mr Smith will give an overview of the modern phenomena of cyberbullying from mobile phone texting to online social media services such as Facebook, Twitter and Ask.fm This presentation will give a brief history of the development of communication technologies, the laws governing harassment by electronic devices and guidelines on internet safety.
All events are free, but booking is essential as spaces are limited. For further information, or to book a place contact Ena Brophy, College of Engineering and Informatics, NUI Galway at 091 492664 or [email protected].
For more information on all the events taking place during Engineers Week visitwww.nuigalway.ie/engineers-week or www.engineersweek.ie
