Photo by Matt Kelly

U.Va. students designed the software program to direct this robot’s movements.

Engineering annual open house Feb. 23

These are a few of the exciting research projects that families throughout Virginia can see Feb. 23 during the annual open house, sponsored by U.Va.’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. The hands-on event, which runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., is free and open to the public.

The Engineering School’s open house offers an opportunity for students in middle school and high school to take a close look at some of the next generation of technological developments and talk informally with engineering school professors and students.

Programs include:

• Interactive exhibits, such as mobile robots programmed to play soccer, a “Legends” racing car and an artificial heart with magnetic bearings

• A presentation by former NASA astronaut Kathy Thornton on the “Sights and Sounds of Space Flight,” at 11 a.m.

• A virtual tour of the inside of a microchip

• The judging of the annual Virginia high school wooden bridge-building contest.
Participants are asked to sign up at the registration table near the front of Thornton Hall. See: http://www.seas.virginia.edu/openhouse.