TouchTomorrow

Save the date…June 8, 2010

In celebration of our second year hosting a NASA Centennial Challenge, WPI is once again transforming our campus into a family-friendly festival of science and technology. Join us at TouchTomorrow 2013 on Saturday June 8th, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., for an out-of-this-world experience filled with interactive exhibits, learning, games, and fun.

Continuing a stellar tradition

Last summer over 7,000 people attended TouchTomorrow 2012 to help WPI celebrate our historic achievement of being the first university to host a NASA Centennial Challenge. The event was truly a day to remember as participants of all ages engaged in hands-on learning and exploration.

We’re working hard to make sure that this year’s festival continues the tradition and brings guests even more excitement and education around science, technology, engineering, and math.

Here’s a snapshot of what you can expect:

 

Explore Space, Robots, and More

• Meet Captain Stephen G. Bowen, a NASA astronaut from Massachusetts who has completed three spaceflights and seven spacewalks
• Check out returning NASA favorites including the Robonaut Hand, MarcBot, Be a Bot, Mac 3 Suit, and the Starfish tent
• NASA’s Lunar Quest, a simulated trek across the moon’s surface using satellite imagery
• Magic Planet, a dynamic digital exploration of the Earth, other planets, and space
• Lunarscape floor map
• Rock out to a Robot Band. The band will be on stage a few times during the festival so be sure to check out the schedule when you get here.
• Make your own slime! Combine a few basic ingredients to make this unique substance that has qualities of both a liquid and a solid.
• Play Pop fly, the football game with a twist. Take a ping pong ball, paint stirrers, a wooden spool, and tape. Add your foot and ready, set, launch!
• Discover an enlightening and delicious way to explore numbers with M&M® Math
• Learn about the lifecycle of a star
• Craft your own flying devices at the paper airplane station
• Design a device to protect a water balloon brain
• Challenge your peers to see how long you can keep a specially designed bubble in the air
• Examine soil samples to detect nematodes (roundworms), and bring home a kit to test your own yard
• Find out why you love, or hate, cilantro. Take part in this Citizen Science project to explore the genetics of taste.

Get your hands on innovative research from WPI

• Meet Archie, a PR2 (personal robot) that is spurring advances in human-robot collaboration and the use of robots in manufacturing
• Check out medical robots at the Automation and Interventional Medicine (AIM) Lab, including a robotic penguin used in therapy for autistic children, a rehabilitation glove for people recovering from strokes, and a robotic arm assistance device
• Tour the Assistance Technology Lab, where students and professors will be demoing research devices created to assist people with disabilities
• Try out other exciting developments from WPI’s robotics team, including mobile robots, intelligent autonomous ground vehicles, and a robot that can mimic human emotion
• Visit the WPI Aerospace Engineering tent to see the student-designed micro-aircraft that recently won a national competition
• Drop in at the Interactive Media and Game Development labs to play student-designed video games, watch game trailers and view student animations.

Engage with local and national exhibitors

Check our exhibits and activities from a variety of organizations:

• Coastal Studies for Girls
• The Discovery Museums
• FIRST Burncoat Green Reapers robotics team
• iRobot Corporation
• Maine Aviation Career Education (ACE) Academy
• Museum of Science “Super-Cold Science” presentation
• Science from Scientists
• VEX Robotics, Inc.
• VEX Worcester Tech team

*If your organization would like to participate, contact touchtomorrow@wpi.edu.