Greenville County Schools students to get hands-on with engineering at Clemson

Published: May 23, 2012

CLEMSON — Greenville County Schools middle- and high-school students will get hands-on exposure to engineering and science Saturday, May 26, at Clemson University.

About 450 students and their parents will come to the campus on the day of the National Student Steel Bridge Competition, during which teams of college civil engineering students from 47 universities will vie in a bridge design and building challenge.

Clemson, Roper Mountain Science Center and Greenville County Schools created the program for the students, who will test miniature structures in a wind tunnel to study the effect of wind on the built environment, get behind the wheel in a driving simulator to see how texting affects their ability to drive a car and take behind-the-scenes tours of Death Valley and Littlejohn Coliseum, among other activities.

“These students signed up for the program because they’re interested in learning about engineering and science,” said civil engineering professor Scott Schiff. “We want to expose them to some real engineering problems and the tools we use to solve them.”

The students also will see a demonstration of the power of water, see how fixing potholes requires the proper mix of materials and how to weld and create objects with steel; and they’ll spend time interacting with Clemson engineering and science professors.

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