U of M biomedical experts help hundreds of middle schoolers prepare for robotics competition at Oct. 21 workshop
Contacts:
Ryan Maus, University News Service, (612) 624-1690, maus@umn.edu
Rhonda Zurn, College of Science and Engineering, (612) 626-7959, rzurn@umn.edu
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (10/20/2010) —More than 200 students, ages 9 to 14 from across Minnesota, will participate in hands-on sessions at the University of Minnesota’ s Minneapolis campus from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 21, to learn more about biomedical engineering and medicine and begin preparing for “ Body Forward,” the 2010 Minnesota FIRST LEGO League robotics competition. The University of Minnesota research workshop for LEGO League participants is hosted by the University’ s College of Science and Engineering.
The day begins with a keynote address by renowned researcher Claudia Zierold, scientific director of the University of Minnesota’ s Center for Cardiovascular Repair, at 9 a.m. in the Moos Health Sciences Tower, 515 Delaware St., S.E., Room 2-650. The students will attend various hands-on workshops throughout campus and then end their day with a performance by the Physic Force at 12:30 p.m. in the Tate Laboratory of Physics, 116 Church St., S.E., Room 150.
Examples of the 10 interactive sessions for the kids include:
Medical Device Development: Build Your Own--9:50-10:35 a.m. and 11-11:45 a.m., Shepherd Labs, 100 Union St., S.E., Room 554. During this workshop students will learn about what it means to be a medical device biomedical engineer. They will be presented with a disease and be asked to brainstorm and build the device.
Optical Mapping the Electrical Activity of the Heart--9:50-10:35 a.m. and 11-11:45 a.m., Molecular and Cellular Biology, 420 Washington, Ave., S.E., Room 4122. During this workshop students will learn how the heart works and what tools are used to study the heart in normal and diseased states.
Virtual Reality--9:50-10:35 a.m. and 11-11:45 a.m., Walter Library, 117 Pleasant St., S.E., Room 107. This workshop will give students an introduction to virtual reality and its uses for medical and scientific visualizations. Students will be able to experience virtual reality first hand and see a new interface for viewing medical CAT scans in 3D.
Regenerative Medicine--9:50-10:35 a.m. and 11-11:45 a.m., Hasselmo Hall, 312 Church St., S.E., Room 4-101. Students in this workshop will learn about regenerative medicine, followed by a hands-on exercise in groups of five students to design a regenerative approach for a disease.
This year’s LEGO League competition theme, “Body Forward,” will help middle school students explore the cutting-edge world of biomedical engineering to discover innovative ways to repair injuries, overcome illnesses and disabilities, and build stronger and healthier bodies. The competition challenges students to build small autonomous robots from a kit of more than 1,000 parts, including LEGO pieces and elements such as sensors, motors and gears, to accomplish missions related to climate. Students must also complete an eight-week research project in which they identify a problem caused by climate in their community and create an innovative solution.
Last year in Minnesota, about 3,000 students competed in 13 Minnesota LEGO League competitions organized by the Minnesota nonprofit group High Tech Kids. Worldwide more than 150,000 children in 56 countries compete in LEGO League competitions.
The University of Minnesota Research Workshop, in its fifth year, is hosted by the College of Science and Engineering, in cooperation with the University’s Medical Devices Center, Physics Force, Visible Heart Laboratory, Academic Health Center, Minnesota Supercomputing Institute and High Tech Kids. Funding and in-kind support was provided by these units, along with the St. Jude Medical Foundation and High Tech Kids.
For more information about FIRST LEGO League and HighTechKids visit www.hightechkids.org and www.firstlegoleague.org.