"It's a neat time to be an engineer," Professor Roman Kuc told the crowd outside Becton Center for his robotics demonstration during "Opening Yale 300."
The electrical engineer was just one of the Yale scientists who described their work to an openly eager, interested public during the University's kick-off Tercentennial event on Oct. 21.
Crowds began gathering at the participating science facilities before 9 a.m., and the stream of visitors remained steady throughout the event -- with many facilities welcoming several thousand people.
A thick circle of humanity surrounded Kuc as he stood on the sidewalk outside Becton Center talking about YAGO -- a.k.a. the Yale Go-Cart -- an experimental vehicle that uses sonar to navigate its environment.
As Kuc put YAGO through its paces, he invited a young boy to step in front of the vehicle, which was propped so its wheels could rotate but it couldn't move. Wherever the youngster stepped, the wheels turned to avoid him. When he stood directly in front, its wheels stopped moving altogether.
Yale scientists hope that future incarnations of YAGO will help farmers by fertilizing the soil or reaping crops automatically, explained Kuc. His laboratory, he said, next hopes to create a sonar-navigated robot on a wheelchair chassis that users could someday program to "remember" specific routes.
Equally crowd-pleasing was Kuc's demonstration of two miniature robots -- one bearing a "Y" flag, which was programmed to stay inside a designated area; the other with an "H" flag, which was designed to chase the "Y" robot. As the two zoomed around each other to the crowd's laughter, Kuc explained that Yale students in his introductory engineering class not only learn to build robots like these but must eventually program the "Y" robot to avoid detection by the "H" robot, a far more complicated task.
Among the youngsters on hand was Steve Nunes of Farmington, who came with his cousin, Matthew Raspanti, and his uncle, Jim Raspanti of Bristol. "It was cool the way the robots could chase each other," Nunes said. "I didn't think they had that technology yet."
Another popular stop on Science Hill was the Wright Nuclear Structure Laboratory. As visitors toured the bowels of the bunker-like building, they were bombarded with information about the facility -- much as the scientists in the laboratory bombard the nuclei of electrons with highly charged ions in order to study them.
Visitors learned just how small the nuclei are -- if a single electron were the size of a ballpark, the nucleus would be the size of a fly on the pitcher's head. They also learned that the particles inside the accelerator itself (a blue structure about the size and shape of a one-man submarine) are zapped with up to 40 million volts of electricity -- enough to create lightning if the interior weren't filled with flouride gas.
The facility's outside walls are three yards thick to contain the radiation generated within, explained the graduate student guides, while the dirt and vegetation that covers the building provides further shielding.
"I wanted to see this because I've never been here before -- they didn't have this when I was here," said Jerry Cohen of West Hartford, a member of the Class of 1941.
"I grew up in New Haven, and I always wondered what was underneath here," said Elm City resident Mike Moran. His wife, Gail, added that "Opening Yale 300" also gave her and her daughter, Melissa, who moved here from New Jersey last year, a welcome opportunity to learn about their new home.
Other highlights of the Science Hill open house included the Laser Research Laboratory, where visitors saw how lasers can generate a spectrum of colors, which can be used to analyze various materials; the Applied Physics Laboratory, where a cooling chamber inside a room lined with copper (to keep out warming electric currents) freezes the movements of electrons at temperatures near absolute zero; a salt-water fish tank in Sterling Chemistry Laboratory, used to teach students about the relationship between chemistry and high-quality life; and the Molecular Biology Laboratory, where researchers demonstrated the painstaking process of binding proteins.
Visitors to the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Center watched as volunteers climbed beneath the huge magnet and held up in turn a wire sphere, a wire loop and a thick aluminum disk -- each of which floated lazily in mid-air before succumbing to the pull of gravity. Professor Kurt Zilm then explained how the magnet was used to analyze the basic properties of nuclei as well as the "great crossword puzzle" of how molecules interact.
Zilm, who leads tours of his laboratory for alumni or prospective students several times a year, admitted he was "stunned" at the size and enthusiasm of the crowds at the open house. "These people showed a higher interest level and asked better questions than any other group I've talked to," he said.
"I think this is wonderful," enthused one participant, Linda Silverstein, a Yale alumna who lives in Stratford. After touring Science Hill, she planned to visit the Peabody Museum, then take in some of the arts activities. "There's not enough time in one day to do everything," she said. "I think Yale should do this again, and do it for more than one day."
"Doing this for just one day is almost a tease," agreed her father, Dr. Martin Silverstein, a former member of the clinical faculty at the School of Medicine. He especially enjoyed learning about the advances in the sciences that have occurred in recent years, he said. "We're grateful to Yale for giving us this opportunity."
-- By LuAnn Bishop
T H I S
W E E K ' SS T O R I E S
Yale kicks off 300th birthday
Science Hill was a popular spot during Yale's open house
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New Republic editor describes his political coming-of-age
The new Gilder Boathouse is dedicated at a ceremony
Comedian Bill Cosby to perform as a benefit for L.E.A.P.
Albee to hold 'conversation' with audience
Study equates early life stress, drug addiction
NIH grant supports study of amphibians' deformities
Cancer center will lead community initiative to bridge 'digital divide'
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Symposium will explore the claim that there is an 'intelligent design' to the universe
Lecture celebrates new Robert W. Winner Professorship
Books take look at African American stage performers
Book explores conceptions of harems in art, literature
Works by Kosovo refugee on view at Physicians Building
Symposium will explore 'the portrait in American art'
DMCA presents debuts of 'Convergence' and 'Ankle-Diver'
Yale singers will present excerpts of famous opera scenes over two nights
Music festival sponsoring Carnegie Hall concert
Opening Yale 300: Images from the Celebration
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