The Technograph

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One of the fantastic things about Engineering Open House is the sheer variety of exhibits; you could be watching a presentation on high level field theory one minute and playing with bubbles the next. Two exhibits which helped to provide this variety were also the winners of both the Encore: Technical and the Encore: Non-Technical awards this year: Physics Van Lecture Demos and Liquid Nitrogen Table.

The Physics Van (the group which presents both of these exhibits every year) is a student run organization which travels to surrounding grade schools to try to make the students there excited about physics and science as a whole. The main mission of the Van, according to their website at van.physics.illinois.edu, is to “challenge kids' mental picture of what kind of people scientists are. We show them that as long as you want to learn and have fun, there's a world of physics waiting to be discovered.” They normally do this with presentations on the states of matter, electricity, air, and other simple yet major areas of basic physics.

The EOH exhibits are centered toward a wider audience, yet they still have these same principles. The Liquid Nitrogen Table, for example, had many similar demonstrations as in a normal show for the Physics Van. However, it also included a demonstration on how extreme cold affects LED lights and some more specific examples of phase changes in different objects. The states of matter are also explained in greater detail to those who want to know more (i.e. those beyond solids, liquids, and gases).

Lecture Demos, on the other hand, takes the Physics Van’s show to a whole new level. Lauren Rush, a sophomore member of the group and one of the presenters for this exhibit, tells us that “the lecture demo show is a good and lengthy presentation that is performed for large audiences and exhibits all of the best demos from the physics lectures. These include some of the favorites like Zip the monkey (I think that’s his name), the line of fire, and lots of bubbles” from the finale soap explosion. The show is truly all-ages by giving examples and explanations for all levels of knowledge in physics.

The Physics Van gave, through their exhibits, an excellent example of the wide span of EOH presentations. It is truly an all-ages event, and anyone with any interest in the sciences should consider attending. As Lauren Rush said about the Physics Van, “everyone loves a good explosion.”

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