Eureka! Summer 2004 Program Includes Tour of Calit2 at UCI
By Anna Lynn Spitzer
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8.16.04 -- A group of eager young scientists recently got an up close and personal view of Calit² at UC Irvine. Approximately 60 junior high school girls participating in the summer Eureka program toured the Irvine building construction site, as well as viewing demonstrations of the university’s shake table and traffic studies center.
The Eureka program is a summer learning experience sponsored by the non-profit group, Girls Incorporated of Orange County, whose mission is to help girls develop the values and skills they need to become confident, productive and responsible adults. For four weeks, girls in 7th through 9th grade attend Eureka activities with a focus on subjects related to science, technology and math; their activities are centered at Orange Coast Community College.
Debra Richardson, dean of UCI’s Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences and a member of the Calit² governing board, serves on the Girls Inc. Board of Trustees. She approached division director Albert Yee with the idea of giving the Eureka participants a tour of the nearly completed facility at Irvine since “this summer’s program included a focus on architecture.”
Irvine division staff members Stuart Ross and Lorrie Minkel gave three groups of girls tours of the Calit² building, with each group seeing the facility from different perspectives. The building contractor, PCL Construction Services, prepared the building for the visit and answered questions.
“The idea was to have each group visit a different lab in the building and learn about its construction design and eventual capabilities,” said Ross. “That way the groups could share with each other what they experienced, which becomes an educating opportunity for each team.”
In addition to the facility tours, the girls were given a demonstration of the “shake table” – a large platform rigged to simulate the vertical, horizontal or rolling effects of varying-strength earthquakes. The table, located in the structural engineering test hall, is used by UCI researchers to test materials and designs for earthquake resistance.
They also got a look at UCI’s Institute for Transportation Studies “traffic grid” - a facility that provides an integrated approach to the development and deployment of advanced technologies in the management of urban transportation. The center engages in real-time, computer-assisted traffic management and communication.
The tours of the facility and labs were part of a day-long visit to UCI coordinated by the Center for Outreach. The girls also heard presentations about career paths in science and technology, visited on-campus housing and ate in the student commons.
”The girls had a fun and rewarding day experiencing life in a research university setting,” said Richardson. “We look forward to having next year’s Eureka participants come and see the Calit² facility fully operational.”