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OH. OH, HEY, I'M BITSY.
AND BEDS ARE GOOD FOR SLEEPING,
BUT THEY'RE EVEN BETTER FOR RACING.
LET'S GO RACE SOME BEDS!
THIS WEEK IS NATIONAL ENGINEERS WEEK,
AND WE'VE HAD MULTIPLE EVENTS
THAT EITHER CELEBRATE BEING AN ENGINEER, AND DOING OUTREACH
AND COMMUNITY EFFORT, OR BY HAVING FUN.
AND SO TONIGHT IS THE BED RACE WHERE THEY HAVE A BEDLAM COURSE
WHERE THEY RUN AROUND AND TRY
TO DO FUN THINGS LIKE WALK ON WATER.
AND, ESSENTIALLY, IT IS WATER AND CORN STARCH, BUT THAT'S PART
OF THE FUN OF ENGINEERING IS MAKING THINGS WORK
THAT OTHER PEOPLE DON'T REALLY REALIZE REALLY DO WORK.
THIS IS A FUN EVENT, A COMMUNITY EVENT
SO THAT STUDENTS CAN COME HERE, HAVE A GOOD TIME TOGETHER,
AND CELEBRATE THE FACT THAT IT'S ENGINEERS WEEK
AND THAT THEY'RE PROUD OF THEIR PROFESSION.
THE OBSTACLE COURSES AND BED RACE, THERE WAS A BLOW-UP, LIKE,
RUN-THROUGH OBSTACLE COURSE.
AND THEN THE COOLEST THING WAS THE CORN STARCH AND WATER
BECAUSE HOW MANY TIMES IN YOUR LIFE CAN YOU WALK ON WATER.
AND YOU JUST RUN ACROSS IT,
AND IT ACTUALLY WORKS, WHICH IS REALLY COOL.
AND THEN THERE'S A TEAMWORK ACTIVITY
WHERE SOMEONE'S BLINDFOLDED AND THEY HAVE
TO SOLVE A PUZZLE BASED ON WHAT THEIR TEAM SAYS.
THE OBSTACLE COURSE IS A FUN REPRESENTATION
OF WHAT ENGINEERS DO, WHAT SOME OF THE CHALLENGES ARE,
AND WHAT SOME OF THE PROFESSION SKILLS THEY NEED
TO SUCCEED IN ENGINEERING.
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, THEY HAVE A TEAMING PART WHERE THEY HAVE
TO PUT A PUZZLE TOGETHER BLINDFOLDED,
RELYING ON THEIR TEAMMATES TO PUT
THAT PUZZLE TOGETHER USING VERBAL COMMANDS.
THEY HAVE TO GIVE INSTRUCTIONS.
THEY HAVE TO BE CLEAR.
THEY HAVE TO GO OVER AN OBSTACLE COURSE AS A TEAM, IN A GROUP.
THEY HAVE TO PUSH EACH OTHER AROUND AND WORK TOGETHER.
THEY GO THROUGH A CORN-STARCH AREA THAT TALKS
ABOUT THE MATERIALS AND WHAT YOU CAN FORM USING DIFFERENT TYPES
OF MATERIALS THAT YOU WOULDN'T NECESSARILY THINK
ABOUT PUTTING TOGETHER THAT ALLOWS YOU TO "WALK ON WATER."
SO IT'S ALL ABOUT THE INNOVATION, THE CREATIVITY
THAT ENGINEERS EXPERIENCE, BUT IN A VERY FUN WAY.
AND THEY GET A LITTLE DIRTY EVEN AS THEY GO THROUGH THE COURSE.
I'M A COMPETITIVE GUY, SO, I MEAN, THE OTHER TEAMS ARE RACING
AGAINST EACH OTHER AND GOING
OVER THE CORN-STARCH-MIXTURE THING, WHATEVER IT IS,
HAVING THAT WEIRD FEELING IN YOUR TOES,
AND THEN JUST RUNNING, DOING THE PUZZLE,
AND THEN OVER THE OBSTACLE COURSE, WHICH,
OF COURSE, IS MY FAVORITE.
AND IT WAS JUST AWESOME, JUST REALLY,
REALLY ENERGIZING, REALLY EXCITING.
IT'S REALLY COOL THAT PURDUE HELPS US PUT ON STUFF LIKE THIS,
THAT THEY ALLOW US TO COME OUT HERE AND HAVE FUN, EVERY NOW
AND THEN GET A BREAK AWAY FROM SCHOOL AND, YOU KNOW,
JUST HELP US HAVE GOOD TIME.
MY FAVORITE PART OF THE RACE WOULD HAVE BEEN THE
GENERAL ATMOSPHERE.
EVERYONE HERE IS HAVING A REALLY GOOD TIME.
AND OF THE RACE ITSELF, I THINK THE BIG,
INFLATABLE THING WAS THE HIGHLIGHT.
A LOT OF PEOPLE DO HAVE STEREOTYPES ABOUT ENGINEERS.
AND EVENTS AND CELEBRATIONS LIKE THIS HELP OTHER PEOPLE TO SEE
THAT ENGINEERS ARE CREATIVE, THEY'RE INNOVATIVE,
THEY ACTUALLY SOLVE REAL-WORLD PROBLEMS
THAT WE ALL NEED SOLVED.
AND THEY ARE ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE
AND WHAT THEIR SOLUTIONS DO FOR THE WORLD.
WHAT DO YOU HOPE THAT PEOPLE TAKE AWAY
FROM THE BED EVENT, SPECIFICALLY?
A LOT JUST -- A MUCH BETTER VIEW ON ENGINEERING, AS FAR AS,
I WANT THEM TO BE HAPPY WHEN THEY HEAR ABOUT IT, NOT LIKE,
"THOSE ARE A BUNCH OF NERDS."
AND I THINK THIS DEFINITELY DID A GOOD JOB OF IT.
THIS WAS A SUCCESSFUL EVENT
THAT COMBINED ENGINEERING, TEAMWORK, AND FUN.
FOR "BOILER BYTES," I'M BITSY MATATALL.
HIT IT, BOYS.
WHOOPEE!