More Than 200 Local Students Explore Electrical Engineering

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More than 200 Fayetteville students explored electrical engineering concepts at several University of Arkansas research facilities.

The U of A Center for Power Optimization of Electro-Thermal Systems in the College of Engineering's Department of Electrical Engineering hosted an on-campus tour for 220 third and fourth grade gifted and talented students from Fayetteville Public Schools in early April.

The students toured the National Center for Reliable Electric Power Transmission and participated in demonstrations of electrical energy. The tour of the High Density Electronics Center included an introduction to the clean room, a demonstration of heat transfer through a diamond plate to cut ice and a look at electronics the size of a human hair through a microscope. The students also toured the U of A campus and BELL Engineering Center.

Graduate students from several engineering disciplines assisted with the tours by showcasing the "Wonders of Wattage" demonstrations and helping students conduct a homopolar motor during a hands-on activity lab.

For Fayetteville teacher Mignonne Scarbrough, the outreach is a valuable way to expand horizons for students.

"Introducing third and fourth graders to the field of engineering shows them so many more possibilities for careers than they had imagined before," Scarbrough said. "Students who are passionate about math and science need to see the real-world applications for these fields so they will be motivated to take classes that may be difficult or different from their friends. In a concrete way, this field trip inspired out students to attend college."

The Center for Power Optimization of Electro-Thermal Systems is a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center. At this center, engineering faculty from the U of A, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Howard University and Stanford University collaborate with members of industry to identify and carry out research projects to improve the power density of next generation electro-thermal systems that are the most relevant to industry needs.

For more information on the center's education programs, contact Shannon Davis at sgdavis@uark.edu. For more information on the Center for Power Optimization of Electro-Thermal Systems, contact Alan Mantooth, deputy director, at mantooth@uark.edu.