University of Maine at Orono Annual Engineering Expo

This weekend at the University of Maine at Orono (UMO) it was their annual Engineering Expo. It was free and open to the public and targeted kids and tweens.

The UMO field house was wall to wall with exhibitors and booths made up from mostly UMO students. There were a few vendors there from outside the UMO Engineering Department, including, Idexx, Central Maine Power and Cianbo but all were their to inspire youth in science.

I was a chaperone with my son's school on this trip. We went up as a group of about 30 and toured the university field house. We saw incredible demos and displays and the kids picked up a lot free stuff. All of the kids dove for the little trinkets and swag on the tables. Who doesn't love gifties?

UMO students made everything from a suspension bridge out of boxes to a 3D printer to robots that tossed out Frisbees and tee shirts. That shirt cannon was a hit with the kids as was a marshmallow catapult bungee slingshot type contraption.

The students had fun, and learned a little too in the process. Maybe a few of the kids who came by will think about Engineering as a field.