By: Thalia S.
Girl Reporter
My first visit to a university campus was extremely fun. The UCR staff was really kind and they were able to teach me and the other girls a lot of new things in the amount of time we were there. Throughout the day we learned about all the different types of engineering UCR has to offer, the current students even had a chance to share with us the major they chose and why.
The first types of engineering we learned about were Civil and Mechanical engineering. Civil engineering deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of both the physical environment and naturally built environment. Mechanical engineering is creating and improving machines to benefit mankind.
The main part that helped me get a feel for what these types of engineering are and what they do was the project they had us construct. For the first part of the project my partner and I had to work on a car; that gave us both a little glimpse into what mechanical engineers do on a daily basis.
After finishing the cars we moved across the room to construct a bridge, this was our glane into civil engineering.
The next type of engineering we learned about was Environmental Engineering. Environmental engineering is the application of scientific and engineering principles in order to protect human populations from the effects of environmental factors.
In order for us to get a better understanding for what environmental engineering really is they had us do some problem solving questions.
Some of the questions consisted of things like, “Draw a model so a bird with a broken wing can still fly while it’s wing healed” or “Draw a model of something that can pick up garbage from the ocean and dispose of it.
The last type of engineering we learned about was Electrical Engineering. Electrical engineering is a field that generally works with the study and application of electricity and electronics.
Throughout the presentation, they allowed us to make small projects that involved some basics of Electrical engineering, this helped us get a better understanding about what electrical engineers do for our community. They taught us how to make light come from a source with nothing more than a battery and a wire.
They also showed us a robot made from a few random objects. We even had the chance to construct a robot of our own.
Overall the UCR visit was an experience I won’t ever forget. I had the chance to learn things I never knew, I LOVED IT!
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