This year鈥檚 , or 鈥淓-Days,鈥� once again got more students out into the field 鈥� launching homemade bottle rockets, competing for cash and dropping eggs from the top of the Engineering Center's Office Tower.
E-Days is an annual event organized by the (UCEC).听 This year it was held Oct. 16-18 and featured Industry Day, Field and Carnival Day, the Rocket Launch, Egg Drop and several booths set up with information about organizations that students can be a part of. The event's purpose is to give students an opportunity to take a break from the classroom, apply their engineering skills in creative ways and learn about all the groups that are available to them. Some of these include the co-ed, all engineering fraternity Theta Tau, the UCEC, CU鈥檚 Energy Club and various that represent disciplines across the board at the College of Engineering and Applied Science.
鈥淭he purpose of Engineering Days is to really get engineering out there,鈥� said Charity Riesgraf, a junior studying chemical engineering and member of co-ed fraternity, Theta Tau. Coming from a relatively small class, Riesgraf mentioned joining Theta Tau allowed her to expand both her social and academic network. Because Theta Tau is a multi-disciplinary fraternity, she added, students can get advice from each other and provide nuanced engineering perspectives.
At the end of this year鈥檚 infamous Egg Drop, smashed cakes and pumpkins coated the tarp at the bottom of the Engineering Center鈥檚 Office Tower. The Egg Drop challenged contestants to create a contraption holding a raw egg, dropped from the top of the tower and judged by its landing. If the egg survived, the design entered the running for one of several categories, including: best use of an engineering principle, biggest crowd pleaser, most destroyed apparatus holding an unbroken egg, largest volume entry, judges鈥� choice and biggest splash (which did not have to survive). Winners received cash prizes and T-shirts.
Kira Sadighi, Lewis Gillis and Mark Teeter won biggest crowd pleaser and best use of an engineering principle. They each spent about 5-6 hours scheming up their device 鈥� which looked like a spiraling sail or DNA helix with a tiny basket hanging below. Their design allowed for a slow, spinning flight, and the egg, resting in the cushioned basket, made it without a problem.
Another winning design carried an unharmed egg in the center of a five-layered cake.
Over at the rocket launch table, students created their own devices using Estes Rocket kits, aiming to steal the win for either highest, best design or best style, i.e., how the rocket flies. The table, which was set up in the Business Field to allow for some buffer zone between people and rockets, displayed a cluttered collection of pizza boxes, cylindrical rocket tubes, cork-shaped engines, wood scraps and glue. One of the prizes offered was a remote controlled helicopter.
Rebecca Travers, a senior studying who oversaw the rocket table added that E-Days is a 鈥済reat opportunity for students to engage in creative projects and learn about all the student groups.鈥�
All in all, the event encouraged students to get out of the classroom and apply what they know creatively, while connecting like-minded students.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot more to an engineering education than what you learn in the classroom,鈥� said Ryan King, a graduate student in the and treasurer of . 鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting to see student led groups encouraging other students, making engineering more fun, memorable and engaging.鈥�
Photo: CU-Boulder students Kira Sadighi, Lewis Gillis and Mark Teeter pose with their prize-winning Egg Drop contraption during Engineering Days.