Engineering Open House 2012

Every year as spring begins to show signs of returning, people begin to look for ways to get outside and do something.  The constant opportunity on the U of I campus every year is EOH- Engineering Open House.  Demonstrations for student groups and companies fill the north end of campus.  No longer is the Bardeen Quad filled with college students, but also with adults, the elderly, and small children on a field trip away from school.  Everyone with a remote interest in technology and science comes out to see this year's latest projects and activities.This year the two events I focused on were the speech given by Danny Forster, the host of Discovery Channel's show Build It Bigger, and the Tesla Coil Concert that took place on the Bardeen Quad.The speech was a great one, as Danny described some of the places he's been and how engineering is different compared to other forms of art.  How bigger is really what gets people's attention in terms of engineering achievement.As for the concert, it was one of the most unique "concert" experiences I've ever had.  While some background music was played to the Tesla Coils, the coils still made amazing music.  Being able to control the frequency of the discharging electricity was really neat and led to an almost electric guitarish sound, but a little more techno.  The crowd that showed up was huge, easily more than 1000 people crowded around Boneyard Creek to watch and hear this one of a kind event.While I wasn't able to get the vantage point that I wanted at the concert, things still turned out pretty good.  I've learned what to do next year if they have the concert, and going to it alone was worth it.  Here are a few photos for you of the events.Photos Copyright: JD Maloney