Summer Camp immerses students in engineering

The weeklong 2015 Big Red Summer Camp wrapped up on Friday with six teams of campers vying for scholarships in the capstone catapult competition.

The teams were tasked with designing their own devices to launch a tennis ball the greatest distance possible. Armed with a budget of $25 each, the teams shopped for materials and constructed their launchers with the guidance of UNL faculty and staff.

After a morning of testing, tweaking and, in some cases, scrapping the design and starting over, the teams gathered to compete with their finished products. The designs ranged from straightforward catapults to launchers that resembled a trebuchet or a crossbow. The winning entry, a spring-loaded catapult, hurled a tennis ball nearly half the length of a city block.

Throughout the week, the high school students experienced the wide range of opportunities available in engineering – including nanotechnology, sustainable energy, computers and biomedical research. They also toured the Tractor Testing Lab on East Campus, the Holland Computing Center and Mid-West Roadside Safety Facility on the City Campus and the Peter Kiewit Institute in Omaha. During the trip to Omaha, the campers also got a behind-the-scenes look at the Henry Doorly Zoo.