We’ll be celebrating Pi Day on March 9th – before spring break!!!
We’ll be celebrating in the Engineering Library and will begin to serve apple pie bites at 3:14 (when else?!) until 5:00 p.m. – or while supplies last! We will also have coffee and lemonade – did I mention the pie bites, coffee, and lemonade are free? Come early – these tasty bites go fast!
Is your mouth watering yet?
We’ll see you in the Engineering Library on March 9th,
3:14 to 5:00 p.m.
Be there or be square –
after all, you’d be irrational to not celebrate with us!
Spring is right around the corner – those spring dances and formals aren’t far behind! Are you looking for the perfect, unique, attention-getting outfit? How about a DIY project?
Want your dress or suit to sparkle and light up the party? Make: Wearable Electronics will help you learn how to incorporate LED lights in your clothes. LilyPad was designed specifically for e-textiles and clothing and we have one in our Tool Library! It has all you need to get started!
Starboards are flexible circuits that can be sewn directly into garments. Creator Meredith Scheff also offers low resistance (2.5 ohms per yard) solderable conductive thread. It is a conductive thread that is also solderable and it strong enough to be used like regular sewing thread. Need to solder? We now have soldering irons in our Tool Library!
Space Face LED Galaxy Makeup
Wear Space Face Galaxy Light Up Makeup, inspired by the constellation Cassiopeia, and you could be the star of the evening. This spacey headpiece uses 5 FLORA NeoPixels.Make: Wearable Electronics has an example to help you get started using this versatile module. It is wearable, sewable, easily wired, individually addressable, ultra-bright, multicolored LEDs – what’s not to love?
Butterfly Dress designed by Alexander Reeder
Or make that statement wearing a dress with butterflies that actually flap their wings. If you are interested in wearable tech that utilizes motors, both Make: Wearable Electronics andMaking Things Move: DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and Artistscan help you learn to do just that!
How about ABC (Anything But Clothes)? Perhaps the ultimate DIY clothing project? Found objects around the house can be combined into a one-of-a-kind outfit! Want some ideas to jump-start your creativity? How about garbage bags, balloons, shower curtains, sheets, cardboard boxes, and candy wrappers? A caution tape dress? Use your LilyPad skills to add warning lights. And, there is always the always-versatile duct tape, too! Check out Season 7 of Mythbusters for information about adhesion….
Whatever bright idea you have about that special outfit for that special dance – we’ve got the resources – information on everything from circuits and batteries to conductive materials and how to make your one-of-a-kind ideas wearable!
It’s what’s inside the breadboard that counts (hint: it’s and Arduino). Sparkfun
Roberts, Dustyn. 2011. Making things move : DIY mechanisms for inventors, hobbyists, and artists. New York : McGraw-Hill. Engineering Library TJ147 .R56 2011
Valentine’s Day is already upon us! Have you planned ahead? Do you know what you are going to do? How about creating something that is uniquely yours?
Your Valentine doesn’t have to be a significant other – could be a roommate, parent, child, project partner…. No matter who you choose to be your Valentine – we’ve got the perfect DIY project you can tailor specifically to your special Valentine!
Want to create a romantic setting? How about making your own flickering LED candles? Using a warm white LED for the “flame,” you can create a flameless electronic candle! Nick Dossis, author of Brilliant LED Projects : 20 Electronic designs for Artists, Hobbyists, and Experimenters, provides a parts list, step-by-step instructions, and photos to help you create that mood lighting!
To add to the mood lighting – how about making light dance to music? It is possible! Electronics Projects for Dummies will walk you through making it happen! With complete schematics, parts list, photos, and step-by-step instructions, you’ll be able to create a personalized light board which will have the lights dancing to whatever type of music the mood requires! Brilliant LED Projects has complete instructions for a color-changing disco light, too!
Backpack Illuminator. Brilliant LED Projects. Eng Lib TK9965 .D67 2012
Is your Valentine the outdoorsy type? A backpack illuminator or a bike flasher might be exactly what they want! Brilliant LED Projects explains how. The project specifications for the backpack illuminator indicate the display comprises 16 tricolor LEDs configured in a 4×4 matrix. Each LED can be controlled independently, colorful flashing images and simple animations can be created, and the supply voltage is 4.5 volts. Parts list, schematics, clear photos, and step-by-step instructions will help light up your Valentine’s backpack – and maybe their heart!
Brilliant LED Projects will also walk you through creating your own LED bike flasher. It explains how to create a “Front LED Flasher,” and a “Rear Red Flasher.” A Valentine’s gift of a bike flasher tells your special someone you want to help keep them safe!
Is your special someone an animal lover?
If you have an aquarium, how about a Raspberry Pi-powered thermometer which will text your cell phone if the aquarium water overheats or becomes too cool! Make: Raspberry Pi and AVR Projects takes you all the way through the project – color photos, parts lists, step-by-step instructions! Want to experiment with a Raspberry Pi before you tackle your project? We have one in our Tool Library! Come in, check it out, and discover all the amazing things you can do!
Love dolphins, but don’t have room in that aquarium? Electronics for Dummies will teach you how to create a wall display of five dolphins, outlined in LEDs, which light up – one after another – making them appear to dance across the wall!.
Lilypad Design Kit. Available in our Tool Library.
Does your Valentine like bling? Make: Wearable Electronics will show you, in detail, how to create wearable tech! Haven’t played with material and circuits before? Don’t worry – we have a Lilypad in our Tool Library! The Lilypad has everything you need to explore adding bling to clothing! It includes the LED lights, conductive fabrics, battery, needles….check it out and get creative! (You can even make the LED flash like a heart beat!)
Flowers? Hearts? We have 3D scanners in our Creative Space! Scan a flower or a special momento! Once it is scanned, it can be printed at either the Engineering Electronics Shop or the Engineering Machine Shop! Need a little more inspiration for the perfect 3D-printable gift? Check out thingiverse for plenty of ideas!
No matter who you have chosen for your Valentine (or Valentines!), they are sure to be ‘in love’ with a DIY gift you crafted just for them!
Resources:
Dossis, Nick. 2012. Brilliant LED projects : 20 electronic designs for artists, hobbyists, and experimenters. New York : McGraw-Hill. Engineering Library TK9965 .D67 2012
An LED light sword: Dossis, Nick. 2012. Brilliant LED projects : 20 electronic designs for artists, hobbyists, and experimenters. New York : McGraw-Hill. Engineering Library TK9965 .D67 2012
Every Star Wars Project Featured on Make: So Far (Over 100). 2017. makezine.com.
We haven’t had a lot of ice and snow here in Eastern Iowa,
but winter isn’t over yet!
When we think of those big trucks with the plows, clearing and de-icing our roads, we often call them “sand trucks.” But there is much more than simply sand in those trucks. You know the white stains you get on your shoes and the hem of your pants? Those stains are the result of the salt which is also used for de-icing roads and walkways.
Road salt lowers the freezing point of water, which thaws the ice and allows vehicle tires to reach the pavement for traction. Salt does make winter driving safer, but also leads to corrosion on vehicles – both cars and the road maintenance trucks. The rust and corrosion occurs on the underside of the vehicles making it hard to detect. It is recommended that consumers use car washes – with an under carriage spray – on a regular basis.
A road maintenance truck is made of many different components – not just steel, but many softer metals that can be found in the wiring and other places on the truck. More and more liquid de-icers are being used and they more easily penetrate the nooks and crannies of the truck’s underside, causing more corrosion. There are several methods which are used to minimize the corrosion – coatings, additives, and cleansing techniques. Another option is to do nothing, and accept the lessened equipment lifetime.
The chemicals that are used in the sand and salt mixture are formulated for different temperatures and types of snow.
The effectiveness of a de-icer is measured by the range of temperature in which it provides de-icing in a reasonable length of time. So, after the truck goes by, how long do you need to wait before the roads are safer to travel? Generally that time-frame is about 15-20 minutes.
Different chemicals have differing temperatures at which they are most effective. Calcium Chloride is effective at the lowest temperature, as seen below.
Calcium Chloride (-25o F)
Magnesium Chloride (5o F)
Sodium Acetate (5o F)
Calcium Magnesium Acetate (5oF)
Potassium Chloride (12o F)
Urea (15o F)
Sodium Chloride (20-22o F)
Various Blends (usually 20-22o F)
Here’s an interesting fact: in the United States and Canada, more salt is used on snow and ice than with cooking! Every year, nearly 140 pounds of salt per person are applied to roadways in the US alone. That amounts to over 20 million tons of salt. And that doesn’t include the use of salt on sidewalks, walkways or parking lots!
We sometimes hear the words “snow and ice control.” How is it possible to “control” snow and ice? Interestingly enough, there is a “heat island” effect around major metropolitan areas. The heat that is emitted by those major cities can modify the climate enough that the amount of snowfall is reduced or rain (or freezing rain) falls instead of snow. You’ve heard of covered bridges? They were – and are – built to protect bridges from snow and ice. Ever wonder why bridges are more slippery than the roadways? Both the roadway and the underside of bridges are exposed to the cold, making them more susceptible to ice – those covered bridges protect the top, making the bridges that much safer!
Sand, salt and chemicals are the common ways to de-ice roadways. However, there are some new methods that are gaining traction (see what I did there?). You may have heard that beet juice and brine – cheese brine – are being used to de-ice roadways. A company in Indiana is distributing a sugar beet molasses-based product that is mixed with rock salt. The mixture helps rock salt melt ice below the 15o limit. We know from our pancake and waffle experiences that syrup and molasses are very sticky. That is actually an advantage – that stickiness helps prevent the rock salt from bouncing off roadways as cars drive past.
And, cheese brine? Wisconsin (the “cheese state”) is turning to cheese brine to help with icy roads – it helps keep roads from freezing. Cheese brine is a farm waste product so the Wisconsin DOT often gets the brine for free. The downside is there are environmental concerns about effects on rivers and lakes if significant amounts were to enter the waterways. Another downside is, well, there’s an odor…
Airplane de-icer in action – taken through a snowy plane window.
Of course roads aren’t the only things that need to be de-iced. A patent for “Method and device for de-icing trains” was granted in 2013. A patent for “deicer composition” created for “melting ice on and defrosting a surface such as a windshield of a car” was granted in 1963. And a patent for “De-icing of aircraft” was granted in 2008.
Want a little help clearing your sidewalks and driveways, check out the Autonomous Snowplow Competition!
In case an autonomous snow plow isn’t in your future, there are now a number of different types of snow shovels, snow blowers, and ecological- and pet-friendly de-icers for your driveways and walkways.
Keep a safe distance from road maintenance vehicles, watch for ice and snow on uncleared roadways and be sure to clear your driveway and walkways – in other words – be safe this winter!
Resources:
Nixon, Wilfrid A. 2009. Investigation of materials for the reduction and prevention of corrosion on highway maintenance equipment. Iowa City, IA : IIHR-Hydroscience and Engineering, University of Iowa. Engineering Library TE233 .N59 2009
Novotny, Vladimir. 1999. Urban and highway snowmelt : minimizing the impact on receiving water. Alexandria, VA : Water Environment Research Foundation. Engineering Library TD427 .S24 U73 1999
Conger, Steven M. 2005. Winter highway operations : a synthesis of highway practice. Washington, D.C. : Transportation Research Board National Research Council. Engineering Library TE220.5 .C6544 2005
Trulove. Rex. 9 Astonishing Facts You Don’t know about Snow and Winter. Dec. 15, 2016. Niume
Qiu, Lin and Nixon, Wilfrid A. Performance measurement for highway winter maintenance operations. 2009. Iowa City, IA : IIHR-Hydroscience and Engineering, University of Iowa. Engineering Library TE220.5 .Q228 2009
How much time did you spend playing tick-tac-toe when you were a kid? Did you realize the person who had the first go was at a disadvantage? The first player actually has to draw one connecting line longer than the opponent. So, if you are the first to go and still win, that’s impressive! If you add more squares – say 18 – there are 153 connecting lines. Which means there are 3153 game situations – roughly equivalent to the number of particles in the universe. Searching for a winning strategy is quite impossible and sometimes referred to as “computational chaos.” I had trouble winning with just 9 squares….
Another popular grid puzzle is Sudoku. The most common version of the puzzle consists of 9 squares by 9 squares – a grid of 81 squares. The grid is divided into 9 blocks, each containing 9 squares. The rules: each of the 9 blocks must contain all the numbers 1 – 9 within the squares. Each number can only appear once in a row, column or box. The tricky part is that each vertical 9-square column or horizontal 9-square line – within the larger square – must also contain each of the numbers 1 – 9, with no repeats… Each puzzle has only one solution…
If that isn’t challenging enough, there are also circular Sudoku puzzles!
Each of the 4 rings and 8 quarter circles have the numbers 1 through 8 (unlike the square version which has 9). Of course, you can always have 3-ring puzzles, or 5 and 6 ring puzzles. Variants and puzzles can be found in Nets, Puzzles, and Postmen.
Ready for the grown-up version of the baby donut stacker?
The Tower of Hanoi is a much more complicated form of the donut stacker. It was invented by the French mathematician, Edouard Lucas, and was first sold as a toy in 1883. The goal is to transfer the tower of 8 disks to one of the 2 vacant pegs in the fewest moves possible…without putting a larger disk on a smaller one…. For 8 disks that will take 255 moves… If you haven’t figured it out for yourself, the complete mathematical formulas are on pages 196-200 in Famous Puzzles of Great Mathematicians.
Logic puzzles more your style? Try to solve these – good luck!!
Wine & Water:
A dishonest servant takes 3 pints of wine from a barrel and replaces those pints with the same amount of water. He repeats his theft twice, removing a total of 9 pints, replacing those pints with water. As a result, the diluted wine remaining in the barrel lost half of its former strength. How much wine did the barrel originally hold?
Animals in a field:
A cow, a goat, and a goose graze on grass in a field. The cow eats the same quantity of grass as the goat and the goose together. the cow and the goat eat all of the grass in the field in 45 days, the cow and the goose in 60 days, and the goat and the goose in 90 days. How many days will it take the cow, the goat, and the goose together to eat all of the grass, assuming that the grass grows at the same daily rate?
Compose plane figures/Fibonacci’s numbers:
Make a rectangle without any gaps by using small squares whoe sides are the Fibonacci numbers 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, and 21.
Want more logic puzzles? Origami, Eleusis, and the Soma Cube, by Martin Gardner presents (among others) a puzzle called The Monkey and the Coconuts…
Ever heard of the “pea and the sun paradox?” A solid of any size (a small pea for example), can be partitioned into a finite number of pieces and then reassembled to form another solid of any specified shape and volume, (the sun, for example). Is that even possible? Author Leonard Wapner explores this (and many more) puzzles in The Pea & the Sun : A Mathematical Paradox.
Or perhaps you would rather eat the puzzle? Try the chocolate puzzle with real chocolate bars and enjoy them once you have solved the puzzle!
Smullyan, Raymond M. 2009. Satan, Cantor and infinity : mind-boggling puzzles. Mineola, NY : Dover Publications. Engineering Library QA 95 .S5 2009
Szpior, George. 2010. A mathematical medley : fifty easy pieces on mathematics. Providence, R.I. : American Mathematical Society. Engineering Library QA93 .S973 2010
Gardner, Martin. Hexaflexagons, probability paradoxes, and the tower of Hanoi. 2008. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press. Engineering Library QA95 .G247 2008
Sarcone, Gianni A. 2013. Impossible folding puzzles and other mathematical paradoxes. Mineola, New York : Dover Publications. Engineering Library QA95 .S315 2013
Gardner, Martin. 2008. Origami, Eleusis, and the Soma cube: Martin Garnder’s mathematical diversions. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press. Engineering Library AQ95 .G2975 2008
The University of Iowa is committed to sustainability and becoming a green campus. You can read about the various goals in 2020 Vision – The University of Iowa’s Sustainability Targets.And check out the progress report! Our latest exhibit showcases some of the many resources available in our library and also highlights a few of the LEED certified buildings on campus.
What is a LEED building and how is the UI doing towards the goal of sustainability?
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a program which recognizes 5 key areas of environmental – and human – health. Looking at sustainable building site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability.
Creating sustainable environments is a very complex task – beginning with key infrastructure elements. According to Woodrow W. Clark II and Grant Cooke, authors of The Green Industrial Revolution, besides those key elements listed above, it also includes transportation, telecommunications and the belief systems, behavior and values of the residents.
A rendering of the College of Engineering Seamans Center Annex.
The University of Iowa has set a minimum standard of Silver certification for all new buildings and renovation projects. Currently there are 12 LEED certified buildings on campus and 5 that are pending certification. Of the 12 certified buildings, 9 are certified Gold, and 2 are certified Platinum. Of the 5 that are pending certification, 2 are pending Gold, 1 is targeting Silver certification, 1 is pending, and the College of Engineering Seamans Center Annex is targeting Gold/Platinum. The UI Health Care Facilities has 1 facility certified Silver and 2 more pending Silver. The UI Facilities Management has over 20 LEED professionals on staff!
The College of Engineering is aiming for Platinum certification for the Seamans Center annex. The annex will incorporate “lots of green space, with active water filtration ponds and re-use of gray water, and we’re looking at photovoltaics as well,” said College of Engineering Dean Alec Scranton in the College of Engineering article, “And Something More.”
The Information Technology Facility was completed in 2011 and was the first building on campus to earn the LEED Platinum certification. The annual energy savings are estimated to be 71%; 55% of the wood-based construction materials were Forest Stewardship Council certified. It also has carpool parking and encourages biking to work by providing bicycle storage and shower facilities.
The University of Iowa has been installing green roofs on the new and remodeled buildings. The first-ever green roof was installed on the Pappajohn Biodmedical Discovery Building (PBDB). A green roof absorbs and stores rainwater and hot rooftop surfaces transfer their heat to storm water. A green roof reduces runoff from the building, too. The College of Engineering, Seamans Center, also has a small 600 square foot green roof.
Come and see the model of a green roof in our Green Engineering Exhibit!!
Building an Emerald City : A Guide to Creating Green Building Policies and Programs is the story of Seattle, Washington, and how it became the first city in the United States to officially adopt the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Silver standards for it major construction projects. Besides sharing personal accounts and experiences, it also serves as a guidebook – explaining the process from the ground up (so to speak…). It includes information about the differing requirements for LEED certification depending on geographic areas.
An added benefit of creating green roofs can be the preservation of endangered flora. According to Green Roof Retrofit : Building Urban Resilienceedited by Sara Wilkinson and Tim Dixon, biodiversity conservation, along with climate change, is one of the over-arching environmental concerns. Encouraging green roofs in urban areas, where there are few areas available for green space, can help bridge the gap between ecology and commerce, and give urban-dwellers the chance to connect with nature.
Another option for an ecological roof is a “cool roof.” A cool roof has a huge impact on climate change and helps reduce carbon emissions. Basically, a cool roof has a roof coating, or outside layer, that is white or light in color. The light roof reflects the sun’s rays rather than absorbing them like a traditional roof does. The heat that is absorbed by a darker colored roof contributes to an increase in the use of air conditioning. A cool roof also can effect the buildings around it – the cooler the roof, the less hot air is carried in the wind.
University of Iowa Voxman Music Building, pending LEED Gold certification. Photo from websiteUniversity of Iowa Visual Arts building, pending LEED Gold certification. Photo courtesy of Eric P. Dean
Thank you to Voxman Music Building staff, Art Building West/Visual Arts Building staff, Eric P. Dean, and the College of Engineering for sharing their photos with us!
Resources:
Wilkinson, Sara; Dixon, Tim, editors. 2016. Green roof retrofit: building urban resilience. Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom : John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Engineering Library TH2401 .G74 2016
Clark, Woodrow; Cooke Grant, authors. 2016. The green industrial revolution : energy, engineering and economics. Kidlington, Oxford : Waltham, Maryland : Elsevier/Butterworth Heinemann. Engineering Library TJ808 .C537 2015
2020 Vision – The University of Iowa’s Sustainability Targets. 2016. Sustainability. University of Iowa.
Athens, Lucia. Building an emerald city : a guide to creating green building policies and programs. 2010. Washington, D.C. : Island Press. Engineering Library HT243.U6 A84 2010
Did you know the UI has a silver-level, bike-friendly rating?
Bike Friendly University : the UI holds a silver-level bike-friendly rating by the League of American Bicyclists. 2016. Sustainability : the University of Iowa.
photo from pervious pavement: http://www.perviouspavement.org/
The Engineering Library is looking for engineering undergraduate students with little or no prior experience doing article searching using the Compendex database!
You will help us learn more about preferences for video tutorials versus Guide-on-the-Side tutorials! It only requires one 30-minute visit during which time you’ll complete 3 tasks using different tutorials and then complete a short, 10-question survey.
The study will take place in Seamans Center Room 2228, and for participating you will receive up to $5 in Hawkeye Dollars which can be used at most campus food service locations!
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
from Emma Lazarus’ sonnet “New Colossus”
Those widely recognized words come from the sonnet New Colossus by Emma Lazarus. She wrote it for a fundraising auction raising money for the pedestal upon which the Statue of Liberty now sits. The sonnet is not, as many assume, on the tablet that is held in her hand. The tablet is inscribed with JULY IV MDCCLXXVI (July 4, 1776), which is the day the United States adopted the Declaration of Independence. A plaque with the entire New Colossus poem is inscribed and mounted inside the pedestal of the statue.
The Statue of Liberty stands on Liberty Island in Upper New York Bay and the entrance to New York. She has been welcoming visitors and immigrants to New York City since 1886! She was designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, a French sculptor, and built by Gustave Eiffel (yes, that Eiffel!), and dedicated on October 28, 1886. She was originally known as Liberty Enlightening the World.
It is said that the idea of the monument came about in an after-dinner conversation between Bartholdi and Edouard René de Laboulaye (an abolitionist and supporter of the Union during the Civil War). Others claim this is just legend, but legend or not, Laboulaye wanted to honor the Union victory and proposed a gift be built for the United States on the behalf of France. The Statue of Liberty represents the Roman goddess, Libertas. She holds a torch, a ‘tabula ansata’ (a tablet evoking the law), and a broken chain lies at her feet. The broken chain is said to be a symbol of the movement away from slavery.
The Statue of Liberty was the tallest metal statue in the world at that time. It was constructed of copper sheets and used Bartholdi’s 9-ft model. It was shipped – in 350 carefully marked pieces and packed in 214 crates – to New York City in 1885, reassembled, and dedicated in 1886. The Statue was reassembled on the pedestal in 4 months.
She originally served as a lighthouse, but in 1901 the operation was transferred from the United States Lighthouse Board to the War Department. The monument’s original boundaries were within Fort Wood, but were enlarged to encompass all of Bledsoe’s Island in 1937. In 1956 the name was changed to Liberty Island and in 1965 Ellis Island became part of the National Park Service (NPS). The base of the statue is an 11-pointed star, part of old Fort Wood and the 154-ft pedestal, built through American funding, is made of concrete faced with granite.
Renovation, which was completed in October 2012 (in time for 126th anniversary), added three new elevators and upgraded the stairs from the top of the pedestal to the crown and were among the $30 million “Life and Safety Upgrades.” Visitors in wheelchairs and other accessibility issues are now able to reach one of the observation decks at the top of the pedestal for the first time. A NPS official estimated that the renovations will allow 26,000 more people to visit the interior of the monument annually. In order to reach the crown from the top of the pedestal, visitors without accessibility issues must climb 393 steps.
Another renovation is a sophisticated rescue elevator which is used for emergency and maintenance activities and is the only elevator installed within the statue. It reaches from the pedestal to the crown and replaces an elevator that was over 30 years old. Public access to the balcony surrounding the torch has been closed since 1916 for safety reasons.
Fun Facts:
There are replicas of the Statue in more than 20 countries, the most notable of which are found in Paris, France and on the Las Vegas Strip.
Andy Warhol’s painting of the “Statue of Liberty” from his Pop Art series is estimated to be worth more than $35 million.
When winds are strong (around 50 miles-per-hour), Lady Liberty can sway up to 3 inches with her torch swaying up to 5 inches.
With a size 879 shoe, the Statue of Liberty might just have the largest feet on earth.
Lady Liberty has many film credits including – but certainly not limited to – The Saboteur, Titanic, Planet of the Apes, Independence Day, and The Day After Tomorrow.
It is believed that Lady Liberty is struck by lightning around 600 times each year.
The Statue of Liberty’s nose is 4 ft. 6 in.
The crown has seven points, representing the seven seas and seven continents. Each individual ray of the crown weighs about 150 pounds, and measures up to 9 ft.
Resources:
Motion Control: Statue of Liberty rescue elevator. April 1, 2013. Control Engineering. April 2013. Volume 60, Issue 4, pages 20-21.
Kelpin, Sarah. June 17, 2015 #The10: 10 Fun Facts About the Statue of Liberty on Its 130th birthday. Travel About Media Group Ltd.
Want to make that Halloween party extra scary? We have the resources to help you do just that with some DIY special effects!
How about a hologram of a ghoul? We have Holography Projects for the Evil Genius. It is a DIY resource which includes step-by-step instructions, helpful illustrations, a list of required, easy-to-find components (and a list of sources!). It not only helps you create – and customize – your own hologram, you’ll also master the latest tools and techniques!
Pepper’s Ghost is a special effects technique for creating transparent and ghostly images! It was popularized in the 1800s by John Pepper. This effect has been used in theaters and haunted house since then! The photo below was created with mostly scrap materials in the Engineering Electronics Shop on the Universal laser. Stop by the Engineering Library and check it out. The images in our Pepper’s Ghost move and it rotates through several images. Makezine has complete instructions on how to make a spooky ghost for your party! While the Pepper’s Ghost below is using a laptop, a computer or special equipment isn’t needed! If you are interested in a more elaborate hologram, How It’s Made : Season 1 & 2(disc 1) will explain how a hologram is created from the beginning to end.
Pepper’s Ghost created in the Engineering Electronics Shop with mostly scrap materials.
Animotronic Eyes. Make: 3D Printing Projects.
How about creating animatronic eyes? Make : 3D Printing Projects has step-by-step instructions with color illustrations and a parts list! What could be more fun than having a pair expressive, animatronic eyeballs at your party! (We have 3D scanners available in our Creative Space and the Engineering Machine Shop has 3D printers!)
Want to make both your own fog and fog machine? The fog “juice” is made with glycerin and water- which creates a dense vapor when heated to the point of evaporation, which then becomes cloudy when it hits the room temperature air. (For more info on evaporation check our resources, including: Liquid-vapor phase-change phenomena : an introduction to the thermophysics of vaporization and condensation processes in heat transfer equipment.) The fog machine is quite simple also! All it takes is a large candle (with multiple wicks), a small aluminum pie plate, and the top of a 2-liter plastic soda bottle! You will want to be careful about where you place your fog machine – you definitely don’t want it to be tipped over!
Interested in learning about stage make-up? How It’s Made : Season 1 & 2 (disc 5) has great information and shows the creation process. You’ll also be able to see the transformation of a young woman to an old woman. A full transformation mask can take a month or more to create and cost upwards of $10,000. Perhaps not the most cost effective for your Halloween party!
Carey, V.P. 2008. Liquid-vapor phase-change phenomena : an introduction to the thermophysics of vaporization and condensation processes in heat transfer equipment Engineering Library TJ263 .C37 2008
Been thinking about that perfect Halloween costume? Sure, you could go to a store or online and order something, but what fun would that be? You want something special – uniquely yours, right? We’re here to help you make your very own Halloween costume and light up the night!
Perhaps you are going dressed as a “social butterfly.” What could be better than a dress with butterflies that actually flap their wings? If you are interested in wearable tech that utilizes motors, both Make: Wearable Electronics andMaking Things Move: DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and Artistscan help you learn to do just that!
Maybe a light saber more your style? makezine.com has several DIY lightsabers (from Padawan to Jedi Master!). With MaKey MaKey (available in our Tool Library!), you can make the light saber sounds!
