George Good curled his left arm into a bodybuilder pose. He flexed his bicep and sure enough, just like he said it would, the small car attached to his arm by a sensor took off across the table in front of him. Laughing, he said that a few minutes before, the car had almost caught on fire, and he had had to rewire it.
Good, a Chinese high school student living in Missouri, was one of 25 students attending John Brown University's Engineering camp this year.
"I've been involved in robotics for the past few years, and I've learned more at JBU in one week," said Max Stoner, another student who was showing his seeing eye dog robot a few tables over.
The camp, in its second year, is intended to introduce high school students to concepts of engineering and give them an idea of what engineering is and what a career in engineering entails, said Dr. Ted Song, who was helping lead the camp, along with Dr. Tim Gilmour.
This year, the camp had a pair of themes: biomedical technology and energy technology. As part of the camp, students were taken on three field trips to see the biomedical and energy fields up close and in real life. Students toured a solar energy farm, a gas plant and a medical prosthesis manufactory.
The week-long camp was divided into two segments, with the first three days occupied by trips and lectures with Thursday and Friday reserved for project work.
Students ranged in experience, from several who have spent time in robotics clubs and taking engineering classes, to students who had no prior engineering experience.
"We also take a look at what it means to be a Christian in the field, a Christian engineer," Song said.
The camp has drawn attention from a wide area, even though it is only in its second year. Students came from as far as Virginia for the camp, which also allowed students to stay on campus in dorms to further introduce them to the college life.
General News on 07/27/2016