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Speaker's Bureau Program

Engineers in your classroom!

The University of Kentucky College of Engineering in Paducah has developed a Speaker's Bureau Program.  The purpose of this program is to increase interest in science related fields for middle and high school students.  Our faculty will travel to local area schools to give lectures and demonstrations on a wide variety of topics, from genetic engineering to NASA's Vomit Comet.  Below is a listing of potential topics.  Please contact us at 534-3133 for more information or to arrange a speaker for your school.

• Energy and the Environment
• Dr. William Murphy, Director, P.E.
• Mechanical Engineering

Did you know that leaving your computer on overnight may be causing the polar ice caps to melt?  Or that a car's air conditioner needing to be filled regularly with refrigerant may be causing Australians to get skin cancer?

• Engineering Design and Analysis Using Computer Software
• Dr. John Baker, P.E.
• Mechanical Engineering

Engineers use two engineering software packages, Pro/Engineer and ANSYS, to design and analyze parts.  Some software demonstrations are provided.  The solid modeling software, Pro/Engineer is used to develop computer-based “three-dimensional solid models” of parts.  The software allows an engineer to see on the computer screen how a part will look before an actual physical model is created.

• What are the Ethical Dilemmas Behind Genetic Engineering?
• Dr. Paul Dunbar, P.E.
• Chemical Engineering

Genes are being manipulated in bacteria, plants, animals, and humans to produce pharmaceutical products, to produce better crops and to cure diseases.  How do scientists manipulate genes?  How do engineers mass produce the genetically modified products?

• Engineering Materials for Humankind
• Dr. Rhonda Lee-Desautels
• Chemical Engineering

Materials are all around us.  Engineers develop, prepare, modify and apply materials to meet specified needs.  Metals, ceramics, composites and polymers are all examples of materials engineered to fulfill human need.  The unique properties of these materials can be understood in terms of their structures.

• Introduction to the Weightless Wonder:  NASA's Flying Microgravity Laboratory
• Dr. Jack Leifer, P.E.
• Mechanical Engineering

NASA's KC-135 “Weightless Wonder,” known as the “Vomit Comet,” is an airplane that is used to achieve short periods of micro-gravity, or near-weightlessness.  It is used both for training astronauts and for performing experiments designed to determine how engineering systems behave in weightless conditions.  The experiment “Analysis of Tensioned Gossamer Membranes in Zero-Gravity,” flown by the University of Kentucky's Paducah Weightless Wildcats (PaWWs) in July 2003/2004, is an example of the type of work done on this aircraft.

• Plastics and Recycling
• Dr. Silverstein, P.E.
• Chemical Engineering

We are constantly surrounded by plastics, but what are they?  Students will learn how plastics are made by making their own with common materials, and then learn about recycling methods by converting their original plactic into a different sort of material.

• Environmental Sampling and Analysis
• Dr. Jim Smart, P.E.
• Chemical Engineering

How do we ensure the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the soil in which we grow our food is clean and free of chemical contaminants?  Various techniques are offered that demonstrate how representative samples are collected from our environment.  These samples are transported to a laboratory where sophisticated equipment is used to check for the presence of environmental pollutants.

A Novel Method for Removing a Gasoline Spill from Drinking Water Supplies

A new method utilized hollow tubes of rubber for removing gasoline from contaminated drinking water.  The water is pumped through the inside of the rubber tube, and the gasoline absorbs into the rubber, leaving only clean water to exit out the end of the tube.

Forensic Medicine:  Estimating the Time of Death at a Crime Scene

Trying to estimate the time of death of a crime victim is not an easy task.  The history of forensic medicine and some of the more recent tools available to crime scene investigators (CSI) are discussed.

Food Science Engineering:  How to Cook the Perfect French Fry!

Even today, the cooking of food is as much an art as it is science.  Students are shown how to apply fundamental principles of heat and mass transfer to predict how to cook the perfect french fry.

What Do Chemical Engineers Really Do?

Is chemical engineering for you?  What kind of stuff do chemical engineers typically do in their jobs?  What do chemical engineers do different from other engineers?  How does one become a chemical engineer?  How do the salary levels compare to other career fields?

Career Preparation

I did no have much guidance to prepare for my career.  My parents did not go to college, and my teachers just taught me the typical subjects.  They never talked to me about money or why I should work hard in my classes.  A lot of school left me thinking, “Will I ever use this stuff?”  I did not see the relevance to my life; and in general, I did not trust adults.  However, as I look back, it would have been great to have had some experienced guidance.