EDINBURG — Kids jumped in their seats with excitement while others covered their faces as they witnessed a pendulum swing back and forth, nearly smacking a professor, who remained untouched, right in the face because, you know, science.
The room was quiet as mechanical engineering professor Greg Potter pulled back the bowling ball toward the theater professor, Brian Warren. When the ball didn’t hit Warren, Potter yelled, “Yay science!”
At the count of three they released the ball.
The kids looked on anxiously as the ball swung — sighs of relief mixed with laughter filled the room as the ball returned, stopping right before it hit Warren.
Demonstrations like the pendulum ball experiment were among the interesting sights Friday at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Performing Arts Complex in Edinburg, where the inaugural Energy and U live show was held.
The event consisted of two engineering professors displaying various experiments showing the transformation of energy.
The demonstration this week left attendees with a broader understanding and a deeper appreciation for energy transformation.
Jorge Vidal, the 26-year-old director of Energy and U, explained that although the show was performed live this week — which was a first at UTRGV where it was previously experienced in a virtual setting — the project has been years in the making.
What began as a science show at the University of Minnesota in 2007 has since made its way to the Valley with the help of Karen Lozano, a mechanical engineering professor at UTRGV.
In 2019, Lozano wrote a proposal to the National Science Foundation asking for the show to be brought to the Valley and the opportunity to present it in English and “translate it to Spanish as well to reach a broader audience,” Vidal explained.
The goal of Energy and U is not only to educate elementary students about the first law of thermodynamics, but also to introduce science and engineering in a creative way.
“I think we have a responsibility to the community to increase awareness of engineering careers,” Lozano said. “For me, it is an opportunity to showcase the wonders of engineering to the next generation of engineers.”
Initially, the show was intended to be a live performance beginning in 2020.
That, however, was postponed due to COVID-19.
In order to not lose the grant funding the project, they decided to produce a virtual show.
They began filming in September 2020 creating a “DIY video” that displayed each of the experiments.
In January 2021, they showed the video to 13,000 students over Zoom and received positive feedback, which motivated the team to refilm the video with better equipment.
“I call it the HD version,” Vidal said with a chuckle.
The newest video premiered in January 2022 to 10,000 students over Zoom and at a prior UTRGV event.
In the summer of 2022 they submitted the video to the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for the Lone Star Chapter.
Their video won the Emmy in the Instructional Information category.
Now, as the Valley continues to recover and strives to return to normalcy after the effects of the pandemic, they decided to finally host a live version of the show.
But the transition from virtual to live presented challenges of its own.
“Doing it live … it’s just, you know, a lot more high pace, high stakes cause you have a live audience,” Vidal said.“We rehearsed all last week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day.”
The crowd cheered Friday morning in anticipation of the show. They looked at the stage with curiosity in their eyes as Eleazar Marquez, a mechanical engineering professor at UTRGV and the show’s host, stepped on stage.
“First, we introduce what is energy, the definition of energy, and how you measure energy,” Vidal said, adding that the rest of the show contains experiments that explain the different forms of energy — chemical, electrical, mechanical, thermal and others.
As each experiment was presented, kids from various surrounding elementary schools would shout the answers and cheer on the professors as they conducted the experiments.
The team hosted two shows Friday that saw around 1,010 students in attendance.
“The goal is to have that problem where you don’t have enough space for all the schools that want to participate,” Vidal said in a half-joking way.
For both Lozano and Vidal, the most rewarding part of the project is seeing the kids’ reactions to the production.
“Anytime you work with kids and they understand the concept it’s just satisfaction to a different level,” Lozano said.
She hopes shows like Energy and U motivate students to be interested in the sciences.
“It’s just been amazing — the opportunity to outreach to kids, the opportunity to plant a seed in their mind through a very different activity,” Lozano said.
This week is the first of many shows, in fact as of right now the team plans to host the show twice a year — one show during the second week of January and another during the third week of May.
To see a video about the show, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb3MzXIGBJE.
To see more, view Monitor photojournalist Joel Martinez’s full photo gallery here:
Photo Gallery: Energy & U science demonstration for elementary students held at UTRGV
