By Paula Pyzik Scott

Dr. Lauren Logan has created an Ohio Northern geotechnical engineering class with an entrepreneurial twist: junior civil and environmental engineering students learn techniques from museum exhibit designers and then create their own soil study displays. In November, the exhibits were featured in a showcase that was evaluated by student and faculty judges from across campus.

Borrowing restaurant terminology, Logan notes that the course’s “soft open” was conducted last year and that she hopes to make this an ongoing opportunity for students. The course and showcase were developed during an Engineering Unleashed Fellowship. The award comes from the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN), which “focuses on developing an entrepreneurial mindset in undergraduate engineering students.”

Students were encouraged to find ways a general audience can relate to soil issues. Logan noted that museum displays are also becoming more interactive. KEEN funding gave groups up to $50 to create their displays.

The exhibits engaged viewers with a variety of techniques. For example, a display on compaction and pollution in cemeteries used fake Halloween headstones and iron railings to catch the eye and display information. 

An historical timeline was used to display photographs and text explanations of the evolution of graves. 

Another group showed how different regional coffees have characteristic flavors because of differences in the soil where the coffee is grown–and provided samples for the judges.

A miniature football stadium cross section showed underground construction and layers of earth and stone. 

In another display, a clear tub provided a cross section of drainage for a sand volleyball court that allowed bottled water to be poured over the surface, demonstrating how fast it would drain out the bottom.

An exhibit comparing artificial turf and grass for athletic fields included real growing grass so that you could touch and feel the difference between the two.

Logan designed the course with several goals in mind. One was to give students autonomy: they self selected their groups and chose their own topics. Another was to open the showcase experience beyond just engineering faculty and students, to show others what geoengineers care about.

Logan will be publishing a paper on the topic through the American Society for Engineering Education.