If you've ever wondered how a computer turns words into electrons or what your mechanic meant when he said the dyno showed a problem with your car's engine, Engineering Expo '99, Feb. 26 at the University of Kansas, is the event for you. Visitors will enjoy tours of KU engineering labs, exhibits, activities and displays of student work. Featured speaker is Forrest Hoglund, a KU alumnus and chairman of Enron Oil and Gas Company.
All events are free, open to the public and for all ages.
Hoglund, a Lawrence native, will speak about how his experiences as a KU baseball letterman and as an engineer prepared him to be a leader in the petroleum industry. Exhibits include robotics, computer modeling programs used in engineering, how a computer sends electronic mail, alternative fuel vehicles, automobile engine tests and chemistry shows. Design competitions for high school students are from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Learned Hall. The challenge of this year' s Rube Goldberg contest, an annual feature of Expo that honors the cartoonist who drew elaborate machines that accomplished simple tasks, is to build a machine that places a golf ball on a golf tee in at least seven steps. Engineering Expo at KU is the School of Engineering's open house in conjunction with National Engineers Week.