The "clean room" was the first stop, and we noted that this is where Sarah Jane's father works to assemble his company's tiny lasers. We didn't see him through the window, but there were many interesting microscopic images of gecko feet!
The materials testing lab tied in well to what we have recently studied with our older group, Advanced Engineering I. Our students have been testing various materials in compression, carefully measuring the loads required to produce deflection, and deducing the modulus of elasticity--in layman's terms, a measure of how "springy" a substance is. This UCSB lab held dozens of industrial-grade machines to do similar experiments in compression, tension, fatigue, and so on.
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| Kirk (right) shows us the materials testing lab |
Kirk was also able to show us a special research project, which involved a Perspex beam that "pushes back" when it a load is applied. Ordinarily, pushing on a beam would make it bend downwards, but this beam is equipped with sensors and motors that resist the action; this creates a beam with "infinite stiffness", so to speak.
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| The beam of "infinite stiffness" reacts and pushes back against applied load |
We walked through some other spaces (including the wind tunnel), ending up in a robotics lab that housed an in-house competition much like what we do in our own middle school and high school classes. The college students design robots using a variety of motors, sensors, and LEGO structures; the robots ("rats") run around a walled-in elevated platform and collect "cheese".
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| One of the "rats" from last year is on display in the central case |
The visit, though short, was well worthwhile. Jake, our senior, recently applied to this college and this department, so he was glad to meet some people and get a firsthand look. Mr Hurt, also present, graduated from this campus, and happily reminisced about times past.
All in all, a positive experience, and we're grateful to UCSB and Kirk Fields for allowing us the chance to come by!
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