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Show --'"' ) SHOWS TANK Tank that fires as it moves is shown Dr. Robert Todd by inventors Niels Fugal, P.G., Russ Sorensen, Salt Lake and Dave Peterson of Arco, Idaho. Students Learn By Doing at Ricks Students learn by doing, says Dr. Robert Todd of the Ricks College faculty as he tells of engineering students at Ricks who designed and created projects last semester as part ot their class, Engineering 100, "introduction to Engineering." "Learning by doing" is to help the students determine if the engineering profession is what they want to follow as a career, Dr. Todd said. He has taught the class since coming to Ricks in the fall of 1971. Seventy students signed up for the class which is taught during fall semester only. It was the largest class to date. Dr. Todd had to split the students into two sections. There are three class periods weekly. Students are told about the engineering profession. They went on field trips this fall to see enginners in job situations. Guest lecturers told about the profession. Students learned there are openings in the profession, along with good starting salaries. "And this is what the class is designed to do," says Dr. Todd, "it is to allow students to discover if a career in engineering is for them or not. And they learn more about the profession by designing projects and then making them. Students this year invented a solar air conditioner, a chalkless chalk board, a Pop-a chair (for old people who have difficulty in getting in and out of chairs), a tank that fires cabinets which move up and down to eliminate reaching and possible falls from stools, a safety swith for potato stackers, a sidewalk ice-removal ice-removal machine, an automatic head gate for irrigation farming, a "no hassle" soap container which keeps soap from getting lost in the shower or tub, a desalination system, and car lights that move with the wheels to allow the driver to "see around corners." The tank which fires while moving utilizes a system which allows the turret to stay level at all times to allow the aiming and firing to take place while the tank is traveling over any type of terrain. These are but a few of the projects created by the Ricks students since the learning by doing class was started by Dr. Todd. |