The Transportation Infrastructure Precast Innovation Center (TRANS-IPIC) hosted 24 high school students during its session of the Grainger School of Engineering City Designers and Builders Camp, introducing them to the work of researchers in the field of transportation infrastructure engineering and shape memory alloys (SMAs).
The first part of the session saw an introduction and brief informative lecture by TRANS-IPIC director and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign structural engineering professor Bassem Andrawes and member of the Shape Memory and graduate student Alexander Chen. Then, Chen as well as his fellow students, Siyoung Park, Ernesto Pérez-Claros, Kazi Ishat Mushfiq, Osama Ibrahim, Geunoh Kim, Xinyu Xu, and Jackie Hunke led two stations allowing students to get hands-on experiences with the actual materials worked with by researchers.
In one station, students learned how to mix concrete and got the chance to set their own concrete beam, learning the way that ratios of material can affect the strength of the resulting structure. In another, students got to see the properties of SMAs, using heat to observe their strength and unique ability to return to their original shape.
“These activities allowed them to experience interesting engineering concepts beyond the classroom and see the behavior of the materials used in our research,” Pérez-Claros, who helped lead the concrete mixing station, said.
The session ended with a tour of Newmark Crane Bay, where they got to see test setups for large-scale precast bridge girders and slabs and put their cured concrete beams to the test to see how much weight they could withstand.
The 24 students represented high schools from across the country, many of whom said they were interested in attending UIUC or pursuing civil engineering.
“I want to help others live comfortably. I enjoy building new things and I wanted to possibly study this in college.”
- Srinidhi, Grade 11
“I decided to attend because I wanted to see if civil engineering was for me and if it overlapped with some of my interests like transportation (mainly rail) and urban planning.”
- Milo, Grade 12
“It has always been a passion of mine… and that’s what building cities is all about.”
- Sebastian, Grade 12
Engaging young people in the work of TRANS-IPIC is a key goal of the annual event.
“Inspiring young students to explore engineering at an early age helps cultivate the next generation of innovators who will design, build, and maintain the infrastructure of the future,” Ibrahim said. “We are proud to provide opportunities that spark curiosity and encourage students to pursue careers in STEM and civil engineering.”
“It is an interesting field which needs to be involved in my country of Kyrgyzstan”
- Chyngyz, Grade 11
“I can see myself pursuing the field of precast concrete. This is because it really impacts what I love about civil engineering (bridges) and what I want to change.”
- Xavier, Grade 12
“I thought it was cool seeing the concrete being molded and I like working with buildings and structures.”
- MJ, Grade 12
“Bridges and road sparked my initial interest with engineering, so dealing with the shape memory alloys that can help these types of infrastructure is intriguing.”
- Liam, Grade 12
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