Promoting the love of science and new learning is going be a big part of the deliverable that Underwood Elementary School will gain from my summer camp experience. Each day I am working out the details of a new elective for the Underwood community, it will focus on the engineering process water and fire. I also want to express gratitude and appreciation for the hard working scientists at UL (Underwriters Laboratories) who work each day to make our world safer. Writing and testing safety standards for thousands of products is a big part of what UL does everyday. I hope after this experience I can express and emphasize to my Underwood community the value of a company focuses on safety. Looking for the UL logo on products I buy and use everyday is going to be my new normal.
This summer reminded me of a summer camp, I was able to learn new things, play with interesting gadgets, and grow as a professional. Getting to attend North Carolina Center for Association of Teachers (NCCAT) allowed me to meet new people, explore new technology, go white water rafting and eat s’mores. My weeks at UL allowed me to meet interesting professionals, learn about a wide range of careers and see some products being tested. Much like a summer camp, it opened my mind to new experiences.
When I first came to UL, I spent time learning about frequency waves. I knew that my cell phone seemed to always work, my radio seemed to work and airplanes were flying safely in the sky. I didn’t know that each of those frequency bands is regulated by the Federal Communications Commision (FCC). I learned that all devices that use frequencies to communicate all need to “play nice” with one another. This means they must stay in their specified frequency band. For example; when I enter the hospital to visit my friend’s new baby, my phone will not interfere with the baby’s breathing monitor. It all makes sense now that it has been explained to me but it was new learning. To test this, UL uses special chambers to isolate the frequency they are testing, i.e., is the game controller or cell phone. They can close off the outside world and using very specialized antennae to determine if the game controller is operating in its designated frequency band. Another exciting area to explore was the Network Equipment Systems (NEBS) lab. This lab was testing environmental impacts on products. I saw telephone equipment ride for hours on a shake table, simulating travel in a truck, I saw it shake violently on the earthquake table and continue to operate throughout. There are many smaller chambers that simulate, high altitude, high heat, radiant heat, low temperatures, and humidity to name just a few.
The next few weeks took me into some other labs at UL. The Personal Flotation Device (PFD) lab works to ensure that all PFD’s can function as they are intended. They use machines to buckle and unbuckle the straps thousands of times, they test the tensile strength of all the fabrics and seams on the PFD. They are submerged in salt water and fresh water to check their buoyancy levels. Finally, they are donned by a human subject and tested in a pool. Most fascinating was the infant (live babies) PFD testing! In addition to recreational PFD’s they also had full immersion suits meant for surviving the arctic waters around the world. These test subjects had to don the suit in a specified number of minutes, walk, jump from a high platform, climb a ladder, climb from the pool into a life raft, and climb from the water onto a dock. As a non-swimmer who loves to be near water I feel very fortunate to have seen such high standards tested on PFDs, cruise here I come!
Lastly, I spend a great deal of time in the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) lab. In this lab they scrutinize every piece of equipment used my firefighters. They test strap strength by dropping very heavy mannequins from varying heights. They do lots of laundry; fabrics are washed and dried a hundred times, then tested to see that they maintain all their fire protective properties. Fabric was burned, pulled, soaked and baked to ensure its safety. PPE also included a glove room. This room allowed me to try on lots of gloves, and then test to be sure I could still perform tasks of dexterity with the heavy gloves. They checked to be sure the gloves didn’t leak or expose the wearer to anything wet, such as hazardous chemicals or body fluids. In addition to gloves there was a whole room dedicated to boots, helmets and protective eyewear. I have so much respect and admiration for fire fighters and hope I don’t ever need their services, but knowing that UL is keeping them safe puts UL PPE scientists into the hero category as well.
My summer camp-like experience has been wonderful. I look forward to sharing all my stories with the staff, students and families of Underwood this coming school year. My hope is that my new elective will be approved and ready to teach third quarter.