Community Day: Saturday, Feb. 24
Innovative Technologies Complex, Binghamton University (in-person)
Sponsored by Watson College Dean's Office and Watson Career and Alumni Connections
In celebration of National Engineers Week from Feb. 18-24, Watson College will host our annual Community Day event for children and their families. These fun, hands-on STEM activities are free and open to all ages!
- Morning session: 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
- Afternoon session: 1-3:30 p.m.
Each session is limited to 150 children on a first-come, first-served basis.
Note: The morning and afternoon sessions are full.
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Morning Session: 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Amateur Radio
Watson Amateur Radio Club
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: Hallway near 2200 (between ES 2303 and ES 2100)
In times of disaster, when regular communications channels fail, ham radio operators can swing into action to assist emergency efforts and work with public service agencies. Amateur radio operators make friends around the world and even can communicate with astronauts on the International Space Station.
Arduino Project Exhibit
First-Year Engineering Design Division students
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: Hallway near ES 1006
Investigate interactive projects built by our student teams using Arduino, an open-source prototyping platform. Projects include Bop-it, Horse Race, Maze Runner, Reaction Time Tester, Simon Says, Text Adventure and Whack-a-Mole.
Bottle Rocket Launching
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: Link between Rotunda and Center of Excellence
Kids will use a bottle and construction paper to make their very own rocket. Bring a jacket, because we’ll head outside to test out how high your rocket will launch.
Brain Candy Game
Alpha Eta Mu Beta Biomedical Engineering Honor Society / Biomedical Engineering Senior Design Group
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: Center of Excellence Hallway
Learn human anatomy and cell biology with interactive matching games and mazes. Receive a candy reward with game completion!
Bubble Cell Membrane
Biomedical Engineering Society
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: Outside of Symposium Hall (Center of Excellence hallway)
Have you always wondered what the inside of a cell looks like? Join us in making the cell membrane layer using bubbles. Learn about different cell properties including diffusion, membrane self-repair, gap junctions and more.
Build an Electromagnet
Theta Tau - Professional Engineering Fraternity
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: Center of Excellence hallway
Build a homemade electromagnet with batteries, bolts and wires!
Candy Core Capsules
Binghamton University Rover Team
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: Rotunda
Stop by the Binghamton Mars Rover table and become a geologist! Examine the layers of candy bars for different kinds of sediments and learn what scientists can find out about Mars from them. Also, watch as the BURT rover drives around Community Day, and enter the raffle for a chance to name the 2024 Rover!
Catapult and Dunk Tank
Tau Beta Pi
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: ES 1304
Create your own catapults and shoot at different targets, including homemade dunk tanks!
The Celestial Scale and Ignition Technician School
AeroBing
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: ES 1006
The Celestial Scale changes a load cell's calibration to represent someone's weight on different planets. Participants will stand on the scale and see how much they would weigh on the moon, Mars, Venus and more. Come learn about electronics and your relationship with gravity.
In Ignition Technician School, create an electronic match — a simplified version of the ones we use to ignite AeroBing’s rockets — and test it under careful supervision (safety glasses provided). Participants will strip wire and make use of pliers to craft the perfect ignition match.
Egg Drop
Pi Tau Sigma - Mechanical Engineering Honor Society
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: ES 2008W (nearby balcony for drop)
Kids will design and build their own devices to protect an egg from breaking when dropped over the side of a tall balcony. Drop release times are 10:15, 11 or 11:45 a.m.
Electromagnetic Silent Disco
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: ES 2302 (Media Core)
Our dance floor uses electromagnetic fields instead of sound. Wind a loop of wire and attach it to a pair of earbuds so that you can hear the music when you hop on the dance floor. Learn some moves that illustrate how the fields work!
Fighting 3D Printed Combat Robots and 3D Printing Demonstration
Watson Combat Robotics League (WCRL)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: Rotunda
Don’t miss the live matches between two fighting robots — only one will remain! Plus, learn about 3D printing and take home a little 3D printed figurine.
K'nex Constellation Creation
Roberson Museum and Science Center
- Age group: Elementary school
- Location: Hallway in front of ES 1413
Using K'nex, create constellations using your imagination. We will have constellation cards available as reference.
Line Lights - Draw an Electric Graphite Circuit
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: Rotunda
Instead of using wires, create an electric circuit (any shape) with a graphite pencil. Attach a battery, a button and an LED to complete your design!
Magic Milk
Watson College Scholars Program
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: Center of Excellence hallway
Check out the amazing explosion of color in a “magic milk” concoction that you will create! Learn about surface tension and the neat things that happen when molecules separate.
Make Your Own Moon Sand
Alpha Omega Epsilon Professional Engineering Sorority
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: Rotunda (approaching Center of Excellence)
Join us for a fun, hands-on experience with moon sand! Mix, knead, and then play with this unique sand that molds like magic. Pick your favorite colors and create moon sand that is unique to you!
Marshmallow Tower Challenge
Girls Who Code
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: ES 2001
Your challenge is to create a marshmallow tower with multiple floors! The rules are:
- It has to be standing without your support. It has to be stable on the table!
- You can only use marshmallows and toothpicks to build this tower.
Once you build the tower, we will create an earthquake to test it. If it doesn't fall or break, then you have won the challenge!
Maze Runner
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: Center of Excellence hallway
Participants will be provided with a secret map with only a starting location. The goal is to move through the map to different locations, trying to find the shortest path along the way. It might get a little tricky, but we’re here to help!
Minecraft Green Energy City + Makey Makey The Invention Kit for Everyone
The Battery Academy
- Age group: High school
- Location: Symposium Hall
Green Energy City is a Minecraft world that familiarizes students with battery technology and solar power. A series of puzzles, minigames and build activities provides a fun and engaging way of learning key concepts of sustainable energy.
Makey Makey: An Invention Kit for Everyone is designed to connect everyday objects to computer keys. Using a circuit board, alligator clips and a USB cable, the toy uses closed-loop electrical signals to send the computer either a keyboard stroke or mouse click signal.
The National Society of "Boat" Engineers
National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: ES 1304
You've heard of bottle rockets and baking-soda volcanos, but have you seen a bottle baking soda rocket powered boat? Compete to see who can have the fastest B.B.S.R.P. boat using the chemical reaction between vinegar and baking soda. Teams of kids will customize and race pre-made bottle rocket boats.
Nimbostratus Cloud in a Jar
Binghamton Tech Collective (BTC)
- Age group: Elementary school
- Location: Center of Excellence hallway
A mesmerizing weather experiment brings the magic of nimbostratus clouds right to your fingertips! Young scientists will use their creativity to craft a "Nimbostratus Jar" that mimics the formation of rain clouds.
Oobleck
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: Rotunda
Oobleck is a Newtonian fluid that changes states of matter based on the force applied to it. Students get their hands dirty while learning about physics!
Pom Pom Poppers
American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: Center of Excellence Hallway
Get ready to discover the awesome forces of elasticity and air pressure in action with your very own pom pom shooter! Explore the science of how simple materials can create thrilling results.
Popsicle-Stick Catapult
Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineering (IISE) and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: Hallway near ES 2303
Build a popsicle-stick catapult and learn about physics! This simple handheld device constructed from popsicle sticks and rubber bands launches small objects with the pull of a lever. Learn about potential and kinetic energy.
Rubber-Band Racers and SuperCar Driving Simulator
Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school (adults can try out the SIM racing)
- Location: Rotunda
Rubber-Band Racers: Want to learn what makes a fast car? Build your own miniature racecars powered by rubber bands, and then race your friends! This demo will introduce you to the concepts of power, torque, friction and types of energy.
Racing Simulator: Now that you know what makes a car go fast, let's put you behind the wheel! Feel like a real race car driver in the seat of our repurposed 2019 Student Formula chassis. Take a lap on a famous track like the pros do, learn how to navigate corners and compete to set the fastest lap time in our realistic racing rig!
Seismic Shakedown
Mechanical Contractors Association (MCA)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: 2008E
Build a structure out of popsicle sticks and see how it holds up from some serious shaking.
Water Puzzle
Mechanical Engineering faculty
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: ES 2001
Explore the magic of a water surface by building shapes from 3D-printed building blocks!
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Afternoon Session: 1-3:30 p.m.
3D Printing Live Demo
Assistant Professor Fuda Ning and Research Group
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: Hallway near ES 1100
Learn about 3D printing — also known as additive manufacturing — by watching state-of-the-art printers. Also, see samples of the cool things that we have printed in our lab!
Amateur Radio
Watson Amateur Radio Club
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: Hallway near 2200 (between ES 2303 and ES 2100)
In times of disaster, when regular communications channels fail, ham radio operators can swing into action to assist emergency efforts and work with public service agencies. Amateur radio operators make friends around the world and even can communicate with astronauts on the International Space Station.
Arduino Project Exhibit
First-Year Engineering Design Division students
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: Hallway near ES 1006
Investigate interactive projects built by our student teams using Arduino, an open-source prototyping platform. Projects include Bop-it, Horse Race, Maze Runner, Reaction Time Tester, Simon Says, Text Adventure and Whack-a-Mole.
Bottle Rocket Launching
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: Link between Rotunda & Center of Excellence
Kids will use a bottle and construction paper to make their very own rocket. Bring a jacket, because we’ll head outside to test out how high your rocket will launch.
Bubble Cell Membrane
Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: Outside of Symposium Hall (Center of Excellence hallway)
Have you always wondered what the inside of a cell looks like? Join us in making the cell membrane layer using bubbles. Learn about different cell properties including diffusion, membrane self-repair, gap junctions and more.
Build an Electromagnet
Theta Tau - Professional Engineering Fraternity
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: Center of Excellence hallway
Build a homemade electromagnet with batteries, bolts and wires!
Candy Core Capsules
Binghamton University Rover Team
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: Rotunda
Stop by the Binghamton Mars Rover table and become a geologist! Examine the layers of candy bars for different kinds of sediments and learn what scientists can find out about Mars from them. Also, watch as the BURT rover drives around Community Day, and enter the raffle for a chance to name the 2024 Rover!
Catapult and Dunk Tank
Tau Beta Pi
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: ES 1304
Create your own catapults and shoot at different targets, including homemade dunk tanks!
The Celestial Scale and Ignition Technician School
AeroBing
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: ES 1006
The Celestial Scale changes a load cell's calibration to represent someone's weight on different planets. Participants will stand on the scale and see how much they would weigh on the moon, Mars, Venus and more. Come learn about electronics and your relationship with gravity.
In Ignition Technician School, create an electronic match — a simplified version of the ones we use to ignite AeroBing’s rockets — and test it under careful supervision (safety glasses provided). Participants will strip wire and make use of pliers to craft the perfect ignition match.
Egg Drop
Pi Tau Sigma - Mechanical Engineering Honor Society
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: ES 2008W (nearby balcony for drop)
Kids will design and build their own devices to protect an egg from breaking when dropped over the side of a tall balcony. Drop release times are 1:45, 2:30 or 3:15 p.m.
Electric Playdough
Watson College Scholars Program
- Age group: Elementary school
- Location: Center of Excellence Hallway
Transform ordinary playdough into a magical conductor of electricity. Design circuit masterpieces by molding, shaping and sculpting light-up sculptures and more.
Electromagnetic Silent Disco
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: ES 2302 (Media Core)
Our dance floor uses electromagnetic fields instead of sound. Wind a loop of wire and attach it to a pair of earbuds so that you can hear the music when you hop on the dance floor. Learn some moves that illustrate how the fields work!
Fighting 3D Printed Combat Robots and 3D Printing Demonstration
Watson Combat Robotics League (WCRL)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: Rotunda
Don’t miss the live matches between two fighting robots — only one will remain! Plus, learn about 3D printing and take home a little 3D printed figurine.
Generate Electricity from Wind
Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: 2008E
Have you seen those giant wind turbines in the mountains? Did you know they supply power to your house? Join us to create your own wind turbine generator!
Invisible Ink
Watson College Scholars Program
- Age group: Elementary school
- Location: Center of Excellence hallway
This low-tech invisible ink science experiment lets kids send secret messages to friends and family.
Lava Lamp Science Experiment
Watson College Scholars Program
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: Center of Excellence hallway
Create your own lava lamp using density to control water, oil and food coloring!
Line Lights - Draw an Electric Graphite Circuit
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: Rotunda
Instead of using wires, create an electric circuit (any shape) with a graphite pencil. Attach a battery, a button and an LED to complete your design!
Make Your Own Moon Sand
Alpha Omega Epsilon Professional Engineering Sorority
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: Rotunda (approaching Center of Excellence)
Join us for a fun, hands-on experience with moon sand! Mix, knead, and then play with this unique sand that molds like magic. Pick your favorite colors and create moon sand that is unique to you!
Marshmallow Tower Challenge
Girls Who Code
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: ES 2001
Your challenge is to create a marshmallow tower with multiple floors! The rules are:
It has to be standing without your support. It has to be stable on the table!
You can only use marshmallows and toothpicks to build this tower. Once you build the tower, we will create an earthquake to test it. If it doesn't fall or break, then you have won the challenge!Minecraft Green Energy City + Makey Makey The Invention Kit for Everyone
The Battery Academy
- Age group: High school
- Location: Symposium Hall
Green Energy City is a Minecraft world that familiarizes students with battery technology and solar power. A series of puzzles, minigames and build activities provides a fun and engaging way of learning key concepts of sustainable energy.
Makey Makey: An Invention Kit for Everyone is designed to connect everyday objects to computer keys. Using a circuit board, alligator clips and a USB cable, the toy uses closed-loop electrical signals to send the computer either a keyboard stroke or mouse click signal.
Maze Runner
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: Center of Excellence hallway
Participants will be provided with a secret map with only a starting location. The goal is to move through the map to different locations, trying to find the shortest path along the way. It might get a little tricky, but we’re here to help!
Oobleck
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: Rotunda
Oobleck is a Newtonian fluid that changes states of matter based on the force applied to it. Students get their hands dirty while learning about physics!
Pom Pom Poppers
American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: Center of Excellence Hallway
Get ready to discover the awesome forces of elasticity and air pressure in action with your very own pom pom shooter! Explore the science of how simple materials can create thrilling results.
Popsicle-Stick Catapult
Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineering (IISE) and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: Hallway near ES 2303
Build a popsicle-stick catapult and learn about physics! This simple handheld device constructed from popsicle sticks and rubber bands launches small objects with the pull of a lever. Learn about potential and kinetic energy.
Rubber-Band Racers and SuperCar Driving Simulator
Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school (adults can try out the SIM racing)
- Location: Rotunda
Rubber-Band Racers: Want to learn what makes a fast car? Build your own miniature racecars powered by rubber bands, and then race your friends! This demo will introduce you to the concepts of power, torque, friction and types of energy.
Racing Simulator: Now that you know what makes a car go fast, let's put you behind the wheel! Feel like a real race car driver in the seat of our repurposed 2019 Student Formula chassis. Take a lap on a famous track like the pros do, learn how to navigate corners and compete to set the fastest lap time in our realistic racing rig!
Slime & Science
Watson College Scholars Program
- Age group: Elementary school
- Location: ES 1304
Unleash your inner scientist as you craft your own slime to take home. Choose your favorite colors and add a touch of sparkle with glitter - it's a hands-on adventure in creativity!
Slime Extravaganza
Watson College Scholars Program
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: Center of Excellence Hallway
Mix, measure and color! This is a hands-on activity where you can make your own slime with provided materials! After a few steps, you will be able to take home a fun and colorful slime!
Water Puzzle
Mechanical Engineering faculty
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school
- Location: ES 2001
Explore the magic of a water surface by building shapes from 3D-printed building blocks!
Whatever Floats Your Boat
Women in Tech
- Age groups: Elementary school, middle school, high school
- Location: Hallway in front of ES 1414
Build your own boat using popsicle sticks and foil, then put it to the ultimate test: Will it float and hold the weight of a top-secret item? Dive into this challenge and see if your boat can handle the waves and carry our surprise cargo.
New in 2024: High School Track
Are you a high school student interested in learning more about the engineering field? Take advantage of our teen-only track, running concurrently with the other Community Day activities. Sign up for one of the two available sessions, morning or afternoon, while space is available (limited to 15 students per session).
Check out the schedule below, which includes two interactive activities led by Watson College engineering professors. You’ll also hear from a panel of current students about a “day in the life” of an engineering/computer science student, and you can ask them anything! Register here for the high school track session.
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High School Track: 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m. or 1-3:30 p.m.
Activity 1: Nanofish Frenzy - Dive into the Exciting World of Nanomanipulation
Assistant Professor Kaiyan Yu, Mechanical Engineering Department (45 minutes)
Dive into the fascinating world of nanomanipulation with Professor Yu's research group! Engage with a portable mini-aquarium with microparticles that mimic the movements of small-scale robots. Using magnets and magnetic fields, steer the micro-fish through the mini-aquarium, while experimenting with different fields to observe changes in their behavior.
Engineering & Computer Science Student Panel + Snack Break
(30 minutes)
Hear from a panel of students from the six undergraduate engineering disciplines at Watson College (biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering, industrial and systems engineering, and computer science). They’ll share their “day in the life” of a Watson student, talk about the cool projects they’re working on and offer advice for pursuing engineering.
Activity 2: Drawing Electronics - Engineering Ignited
Assistant Professor Pu Zhang, Mechanical Engineering Department (60 minutes)
Delve into the world of electronics with our hands-on activity to invent your own electronics from scratch! All you’ll need is a silver ink pen that can draw circuits on paper — simply grab this magical pen and watch as your drawings come to life with electric potential.
We'll also provide switches, batteries, LEDs, transistors and more, and we’ll help you to understand the principles behind each component and how they create functional devices.
Sponsors
Thank you to all those who support Watson College's Engineers Week!
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