When Mental Walls Lead to Physical Walls

Engineers have helped design and build the world you live in. Engineers and engineering are behind your phone, your home, and your ability to navigate life. Engineers also design and build structures like border walls. This immersive public art and engagement project–comprised of a self-standing border wall sculpture and a museum of walls–exposes visitors to the political nature of engineering.

Climb aboard a model of Leonardo’s Ornithopter and make the wings flap with foot and arm pedals. In this activity we hope people will get an idea of the difficulty in human-powered flying, and an appreciation of one of the coolest designs of this amazing genius.

In this activity, participants will consider present-day problems and create and make working models to solve them. Visitors can work alone or in small groups to make machines to solve a challenge. Once the machines are created, visitors can make videos showing how they work. Like Leonardo, visitors can choose to create machines with useful applications, or pursue whimsical challenges just for the fun of it!

The SolarSPELL Build Day is a hands-on opportunity for people to help build digital library kits that provide educational information to resource-constrained locations around the world. After attending an overview presentation on SolarSPELL’s history and invention, visitors assist with assembling the SolarSPELL libraries, from drilling to soldering to Velcro-ing to gluing. No prior experience necessary! After the build, we’ll have a conversation about where and how the libraries built at Emerge will be used, and share reflections and ideas for the future of education and literacy.

The family exploration area will give children and caregivers opportunities to invent with us at Emerge 2019! “Playing with the Future” features hands-on creative activities about inventing and responsible innovation; collaborative art/science activities that encourage social learning within and across groups; and conversational activities that explore ideas about the future.