Troy, N.Y. — In celebration of National Engineers' Week 2004, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is hosting a day of hands-on engineering activities for more than 250 area Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts on Saturday, Feb. 21 in the Jonsson Engineering Center (JEC) on the Rensselaer campus. The events will begin at 8:30 a.m. and wrap up at 5:30 p.m.

"Exploring Engineering Day activities are designed to spark the children's interest in science and technology, and to encourage them to consider pursuing careers in the engineering field," said Barbara Ruel, director of Rensselaer's Women in Engineering programs and coordinator of Exploring Engineering Day. "Participants will exercise their problem-solving, brainstorming, design, and teamwork skills in hands-on activities that cover a wide range of engineering disciplines, including electrical, aeronautical, and mechanical engineering."

Rensselaer undergraduate and graduate engineering students will lead the day's events. Featured activities include "Egg Drop," at which participants will build a device out of common household materials that will protect an egg from a 15-foot fall; "Ice Cream Making," at which the children will make their own ice cream to learn how salt and other substances can change the chemical properties of ice or water; and "Circuit Building," during which participants will wire a circuit that will sound a buzzer.

Exploring Engineering Day is part of Rensselaer's larger effort to engage children in science and engineering studies and professions. Other "pipeline" programs include Black Family Technology Awareness Day, which interests area young people and their families in pursuing occupations in the fields of science and engineering; Design Your Future Day, where 11th-grade women take part in activities aimed at focusing them on careers in science, technology, and engineering; and Rensselaer's Molecularium project with the Junior Museum in Troy and the National Science Foundation, which excites children about the smallest forms of matter.

Contact: Caroline Jenkins
Phone: (518) 276-6531
E-mail: N/A