May 27, 2009

Spots still available for Engineering Day Camp

by Tim Crosby

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- There are still some spots open for this year’s Engineering Day Camp at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, a three-day event aimed at introducing middle school and junior high-aged students to engineering concepts and careers.

The camp, set for June 22-24, is for boys and girls in grades six-eight. Registration and fee deadline is June 1 and is on a first-come basis.

The camp will give students the opportunity to face real-world engineering challenges while faculty and students from the SIUC College of Engineering guide them. It features hands-on experiments and demonstrations including a hovercraft construction and race, a rocket launch competition, bridge and paper airplane design and building and the famous “Saluki Egg Drop” competition. That particular activity requires the young engineers to construct a device that will prevent an egg from breaking when dropped from a certain height.

Students can register for all three days or a single day. Cost for the three-day camp is $120, while cost for single days is $50 each. Students also will need a completed academic camp medical release form, which is available at www.dce.siu.edu.

For more information, contact Associate Dean John W. Nicklow at 618/453-4321 or nicklow@engr.siu.edu.