A lead gift by Elon University parents Bernhard and Carmen Hampl of New Canaan, Conn., along with gifts from other parents will fund the construction of an engineering workshop this summer. Details...
The workshop will be constructed as an addition to the greenhouse located adjacent to Dalton L. McMichael Sr. Science Center on campus and will be ready for use in fall 2005.
The workshop will allow engineering students to gain practical experience by applying principles taught in the classroom. Students will be able to build prototypes of vehicles and structures and test basic engineering theories. Rich D’Amato, director of Elon’s dual-degree engineering program, says the workshop will contain basic tools for metal and wood works, such as hand drills, hacksaws and soldering equipment. One of the first projects he envisions for the workshop is the construction of remote-controlled vehicles, which will teach students how to attach motors to vehicles to achieve optimum results.
“This workshop will give our students the chance to work in teams, which is often important in an engineering environment,” D’Amato says. “It will also allow them to be creative problem-solvers and to utilize their classroom knowledge.”
The Hampl’s son, Lorenz, is a student in Elon’s dual-degree engineering program. Students spend their first three years at Elon and their final two years at an engineering school. Elon partners with the engineering schools at North Carolina State University, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Columbia University, Washington University in St. Louis and North Carolina A&T State University to offer the program. Students in the program earn bachelor’s degrees from Elon and one of the partner schools.