EOH is back: Students thrilled to 'collaborate with other MatSEs,' community

How sweet it is to be back in-person for Engineering Open House. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign opened its engineering campus for elementary and U of I perspective students to explore The Grainger College of Engineering’s disciplines April 8-9.

Undergraduate students representing all Grainger Engineering majors were pumped to showcase leading engineering concepts and spread their passion for learning at the two-day event.

For most MatSE students, this year was all the more special as it was the first time they’ve taken part in EOH in-person since the last two had to be held virtually due to the pandemic.  

Our MatSE students were ready to arise to the occasion as they’re no stranger to imparting their material science know-how to hundreds their peers and the community.

At the helm of the department’s EOH efforts was senior Ali Nunes who worked closely with MatSE’s student organizations Material Advantage and Keramos as well as the Freshmen Materials Laboratory, which challenges MatSE freshmen to develop group projects to present at EOH. Together they put on quite the show with 13 total booths.

EOH tends to be MatSE students’ favorite event of the year because it brings them all together, and it allows them to collaborate on the topics and principles they learn in class.

That’s especially true for MatSE senior Joe Boyce, who shared he loves EOH “because it’s such a great way for the community and all the kids to come out and learn about all these engineering projects.”

“You can walk through and see things about bioluminescence, different types of flotation, and oobleck and non-Newtonian fluids,” he added. “It’s such a comprehensive and great way of being able to experience engineering, which a lot of kids and community members don’t see frequently.”

Other students enjoy EOH for the sheer teachable moments it provides.

“EOH has been something that’s good for my learning because we get to do hands-on (activities) with the things that we’ve learned in classes,” MatSE freshman Rachel Branson said.

For MatSE sophomore Nicole Bremner, she enjoys EOH “because I can use the knowledge that I learned during classes and apply it to creative ideas that I have in the lab.”

Others like EOH because it enriches their student experience.

Take MatSE sophomore Alex Lussier, for example, who said it “allows (me) to research and study cool properties in material science that normally (I) wouldn’t do.”

Lussier was able to do weeks’ worth of research to create demonstrations and inspire kids and members of the community who enjoy science as much as he does.

In fact, visiting EOH in high school is part of the reason Lussier decided to study material science at the U of I.

On a sweet note, being able to lead these booths reinvigorates our students’ passion for why they chose to study materials science and engineering.

For MatSE sophomore Shivam Tailor, running the cotton candy booth “reminded me once again of why I love the people in this major.”

“Everyone worked together toward the common goal of teaching the science behind making cotton candy while having the best time,” Tailor said. “I was on my feet at EOH from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, but the time flew by so fast. I was having so much fun that I did

n’t realize my feet hurt until I got home.”

Kayla Huang, a MatSE sophomore, couldn’t agree more sharing that the cotton candy booth was her favorite part of EOH.

“(It’s great) getting to collaborate with other MatSEs,” Huang said.

The student-ran operation had Grainger Engineering students taking the reins and getting to choose the paths they wanted to take in developing their booths and themes.

MatSE’s booths included:

• Bioplastics, led by freshmen Andrew Lum and Rachel Branson, showcasing how plastics can be made to be safe for the environment and also have a desirable set of mechanical properties.
• Biodegradable water balloons, led by junior Christina Yu, had visitors adding sodium alginate to a solution of calcium ions to form a gel polymer layer on the outside of the sodium alginate solution while the inside remained a liquid.
• Conductivity of carbon, led by freshmen Ray Tsai and Cesar Goana, put graphite to use as a conductor and connected it to a microphone that would convert vibrations of the graphite into electrical signals that a speaker could then convert into a sound.
• Cotton candy booth, led by sophomore Shivam Tailor, showed the change from ordered, crystalline atoms into irregular, amorphous atoms when sugar is melted and a centripetal force is applied to it. The booth was also a crowd-pleaser giving visitors a tasty treat.
• Destruction with liquid nitrogen, led by sophomore Nicole Bremner, showed how polymers stiffen and change from a ductile to a brittle state when a cold temperature is applied.
• Hydro homies, led by freshmen Laura Klusendorf and Josie Schumann, discussed hydrophobic versus hydrophilic materials and why some materials won’t absorb water and will instead have bubbles sitting on top of them.
• Liquid sand, led by freshmen Alice Gao and Saneea Malik, which proved when air pressure is applied to sand it can give it a more fluid-like consistency and certain objects can float and glide on the surface.
• Oobleck, led by junior Jessica Lawson, demonstrated non-Newtonian fluids which change viscosity with a change in pressure or force applied to the mixture.
• Paper circuits, led by freshmen Caitlyn Goodwin and Mohammad Almenhali, were used to show how graphite is a conductive material that can be drawn on paper to make a circuit that will be used to light an LED.
• Secret messages, led by senior Ian Flueck, written in thermochromic inks that disappear with heat and reappear with cold temperatures wowed the crowd.
• The science of breaking stuff, led by freshmen Meera Karthi and Peter Gutknecht, featured different types of deformations that are studied in material science, such as plastic and elastic deformation.
• Shape memory materials, led by sophomore Alex Lussier, which demonstrated how certain materials can be deformed at colder temperatures and be restored back to their original state at warmer temperatures.
• Superconductors, led by senior Patrick McNutt, demonstrated how substances can levitate above a magnet after being chilled in liquid nitrogen. Superconductors are materials that exhibit no electrical resistance when cooled below their critical temperatures.

A big thank-you to our outstanding MatSE undergraduate students who rolled up their sleeves putting on an impressive display back in action at the annual college-wide EOH. Their passion and know-how inspired so many members of the Champaign-Urbana community.

If you were unable to stop by EOH, check out our featured EOH 2022 stories on Instagram. While you’re at it, keep checking for updates on EOH 2023 because it just keeps getting better each year.