ASCE and CalGeo at UCLA student groups spent a recent Saturday morning at the nearby Warner Elementary School’s Science Slam. UCLA students set up and operated three different demonstrations relating to civil and earthquake engineering in order to pique the young children’s interest in engineering and science. Demonstrations included a setup of liquefaction of sandy soils and its effect on buildings; use of a shake table to demonstrate earthquake effects on different types of K-nex “buildings”, including with and without diagonal bracing; and a water filtration system that removed both coarse and dissolved impurities, yielding clean water. UCLA C&EE students fostered a friendly and interactive environment with the young children, asking for their opinions on which building types will be stronger, and where they think clean water comes from. Parents of the elementary school children also learned about their built environment and enjoyed the event as well. Overall the event was a success with multiple science and engineering clubs visiting the Science Slam day and interacting with future engineers and their pare

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Thanks to the 8 UCLA C&EE students who participated in the event: Sean Ahdi, Troy Arashiro, Maxwell Armenta, Monica Corbin, Soheil Kashani, Jeric Rosas, Jonathan Wigman, and Joseph Wildman; special thanks to Dr. Eric Ahlberg for granting students access to and training in using the shake table; and a big shout-out to Professor Ertugrul Taciroglu, who invited the ASCE and CalGeo student groups, provided advice and help with the demonstrations, and had a great day with his son Tibet, who was able to catch glimpse of what his dad and his dad’s students get do as civil engineers!