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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- A catapult, a 3-D virtual reality system for use in training doctors, and a microscope that can magnify an almost invisible object to 200,000 times its size, were among the equipment on public display this afternoon inside the UAB School of Engineering.
Equipment was displayed in a carnival like atmosphere, with balloons, popcorn, and games, in rooms around the University of Alabama at Birmingham engineering building.
The open house was to give the public, and particularly potential students, a look at the five different fields of engineering offered within the School of Engineering and the practical uses for research. The different fields are: biomedical; civil, construction and environmental; electrical and computer; materials science and mechanical.
Terrance Serna, a senior mechanical engineering student, wore a multi-colored wig as he loaded a catapult with an Angry Bird plush toy and helped a child hurl it toward a low-hanging basketball hoop.
It missed the goal.
But Serna explained the concept of a catapult to his audience before handing the presentation over to someone else for a demonstration of a strongman game. That game requires striking a pad with a mallet to lift an object towards a bell at the top of a pole.
In another room, Bharat K. Soni, chair and professor of mechanical engineering at UAB, let visitors don special glasses for a virtual 3-D tour of a house, a flying jet, and the human body. Visitors inserted their hands into the body and a large screen displayed what was inside, such as the valves within the heart along with a heart thumping sound.
The 3-D system for the human body is an anatomy training tool that will reduce the need for cadavers in helping doctors learn, Soni said.
"I can't wait until they implement it (virtual 3-D) into other things," said John Carroll, of Hueytown.
Carroll said his wife is a freshman at UAB and he too plans to enter the university with an eye towards a career in game development.
Trey Reamer, a senior at Mountain Brook High School, came to the open house with his sister, Hope Reamer, and their father. Hope Reamer is a junior at Mountain Brook High.
Trey Reamer, who plans to study biomedical engineering, said he liked being able to meet some of the professors in the class settings at the open house.
"It helps us see what it's going to be like," he said.