Friday, August 7th found our students and staff up early, as they had to leave campus at 7:00 a.m. in order to get things set up for Purdue Day at the State Fair in Indianapolis, which was scheduled to run from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m.

Each year, the Weldon School showcase a different area of research excellence. This year we demonstrated biomechanics and orthopaedics concepts through several interactive activities. The first activity demonstrated the force needed to raise a giant foam ("We're No. 1") finger, based on the attachment site of the "muscle" (dog leashes) to the "arm" (hinged boards). Our second hands-on activity involved several different models of hip implants, made with an assortment of metal, ceramic or plastic, supplied by our friends at DePuy. The Weldon staff and graduate students used these implants to explain the importance of materials selection in implant design. Visitors to our booth were quite surprised at the difference in weight and surface coatings of the various models. Next, we explained the difference between healthy, calcium-rich bones belonging to milk-drinkers and weak, calcium-poor bones found in those who drink lots of carbonated beverages. Three days prior to the fair, we had soaked hard-boiled eggs in vinegar, which leached the calcium from the shell, and left other hard-boiled eggs alone. The eggs soaked in vinegar were rubbery to the touch, while the regular eggs still had a solid, hard shell. Young visitors to the booth were quite amazed to be able to actually feel the difference between calcium-rich and calcium-poor "bones." (And the parents were extremely grateful for the graphic demonstration of why they should drink more milk!)

The activity that gathered the most interest and drew people into our booth, however, had to be the "jello brains."  We had a cooler loaded with brain-shaped gelatin. One "brain" was placed into a protective helmet that had been designed by one of our senior design classes, and another "brain" was placed on a plastic plate. Visitors to the booth were handed a drumstick, and instructed to strike the unprotected brain, and then the helmet, and observe which brain demonstrated the least amount of damage. When asked which brain they would rather have, visitors unfailingly selected the one in the helment. (Again, we met a lot of grateful parents who appreciated our reinforcement about wearing helmets when riding bikes, riding horses, playing sports, etc.)

We are extremely grateful to the corps of graduate students who helped make the State Fair such as success. Scott Van Dyke organized members of the BME Graduate Student Association to volunteer. Patrick Schexnailder, Deva Chan, Xuanhao Sun, Khanh Nguyen, Krista O'Shaughnessey, Jason Toler, Serena Pearce, David Richards, Ming Li, and Sean Connell joined BME staff members Carla Brady, Jo Gelfand and Truda Strange to "man the booth," and stayed until the wee hours to help pack everything up for the return trip to West Lafayette. The graduate students even shared the "find of the fair" - chocolate covered bacon - with the staff! It was an exhausting day, but a great opportunity to share what biomedical engineering is all about.