ECE Family Fun Night draws over 500 attendees

Culminating with a laser light show, Family Fun Night 2018 gathered students, alumni, faculty, and anyone interested in the Michigan ECE community to play, learn, and explore all that makes up electrical and computer engineering. Greeting visitors were demonstrations from student groups and research labs, games, activities, arts and crafts, giveaways, and dinner.

Families got to see the latest models from student teams such as STARX, which creates powered exoskeletons, MRover, which builds rovers for extraterrestial environments, and Michigan Baja Racing, which designs, builds, and races off-road vehicles.

Young engineers took on the challenge to create towers out of marshmallow and spaghetti, observed silicon wafers through microscopes, and transmitted audio using lasers. When needing a break from engineering, children played miniature golf, hopped in a bounce house, and had their faces painted.

Also on display were new exhibits in the EECS Atrium, which showcase the Michigan Micro Mote (M3), robotics, and brain probes developed by Michigan ECE researchers.

The night ended with a laser light show on the Lurie Bell Tower, the most prominent building on North Campus. Before starting, children could pose and have their outlines turned into lasers and projected up on the Tower.