Jesse Hall Gleams Green Celebrating Engineering’s 'Green Week'
by Kathleen Sprouse, posted 3/11/08
MU students in the College of Engineering discovered in 1903 that St. Patrick was an engineer. MU engineering students celebrate St. Patrick, not only on March 17, but with a week full of events.
Jesse Hall has been glowing green every year for “E-Week” since 1988 to celebrate MU engineers.
This year, a dome lighting celebration was added to “E-Week,” instead of an off-campus concert, in an effort to involve more alumni and students.
A homopolar racer motor contest on Monday, March 10, was also new to “E-Week” this year. Students constructed and raced motors made with a battery weighing less than 100 grams, copper wire and magnets. With a perfectly homopolar design, a racer could potentially go hundreds of miles per hour. Most racers in the “E-Week” competition, however, will average about five mph.
“The competition helped students think about things that will trouble us as a society in the future,” said Greg Engel, an electrical and computer engineering associate professor who devised the competition. “If you look at it, the homopolar racer is basically an electric car —something I definitely think will be in our future.”
Engineering students are collecting cans and donations at many “E-Week” events to support the Central Missouri Food Bank. Two cans or $1 bought participants a raffle ticket for a GPS system at the dome lighting ceremony and a chance to throw a pie at participating faculty members during the annual Egg Catapult contest.
The American Society of Engineers sponsored the annual Egg Catapult contest on Monday, March 10, at the shamrock between Lafferre and Engineering Building North. Students were challenged to build a catapult that could launch an egg 60 feet and hit a frying pan.
The Hot Dog Banquet sponsored by George Butler & Associates followed the contest, offering free hot dogs and bratwurst.
Tau Beta Pi quiz bowl challenged teams of engineers with a wide variety of questions written by members of Tau Beta Pi. The competition, began Monday, March 10, and finals are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 11, in W0007 Lafferre.
For more information on “E-Week,” visit MU’s engineering Web-site.
