SURREY — Battling robots, an exoskeleton demo, touchable sea creatures, wearable technology and student innovations are some of the visual features of Simon Fraser University’s 50th Celebration Open House at its Surrey campus on Wednesday (March 2) from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Nearly 3,000 visitors are expected to take in more than 60 exhibits and demonstrations, watch cultural performances and check out displays and activities throughout the campus, located at the Central City tower.
SFU President Andrew Petter will welcome the community at 6:30 p.m., followed by a brief 50th anniversary celebration.
Other attractions at the event, as described by SFU's PR office:
• Visit Innovation Row at the Beedie School of Business exhibit to see how students are turning ideas into successful ventures, from Brewstr, creators of an automated/customized home brewing kit, to start-up Artemis Technologies, using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to provide aerial photography for grape farmers;
• See the UAV created by students from Team Guardian for an upcoming national competition (winners of BCIT’s recent drone fair);
• Interact with sea stars, sea cucumbers, and other marine life native to B.C. waters at the biology lab;
• Examine preserved rats, and the skulls and skeletons that make each animal unique;
• Take a detailed look at fungi and listen to giant cockroaches hissing;
• See a computer-controlled component demonstration of a Halo video game cosplay suit by computing science students, and a sound-to-light display controlled by playing a guitar
• Visit the Pain Transforming Lab and experience how Virtual Reality (VR) can make a difference in managing pain;
• Check out alternative energy conversion systems, LEGO Mindstorm robots, an exoskeleton and other demos by Mechatronics Systems Engineering;
• See the latest projects from Interactive Arts and Technology, such as Moving Stories, a digital art exhibition exploring movement through computation; Into the Forest, an art installation about deforestation that creates immersive interaction through sounds, and Recoil, a jacket covered in leaves that retreat from human touch;
• Check out the Earth Sciences’ hands-on display of samples, models, and other visual aids that introduce or further knowledge of the earth;
• Hear how students with Enactus SFU, an entrepreneurial action group, are impacting the community with their Soap for Hope initiative, which up-cycles lightly used bar soap, and other initiatives that address community needs;
• See 3-D printer demos, and a wide range of 3-D parts and other objects created on campus for a variety of projects and research;
• Spin the wheel of fortune for free tuition at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences wheel and participate in a crime scene at the criminology exhibit.
• For live entertainment, hear the SFU 50th anniversary song created by student Caleb Sung and a piper from the six-time world champion SFU Pipe Band, and watch the Heather Jolley Highland Dancers;
• Take in the fast-paced steps of VanCity Bhangra and the delicate moves of the Lorita Leung Chinese Dance Company;
• Watch performances by Jerrica Santos, Trevor Hoffman & The Simpson brothers, and headlining act, Surrey-based indie-folk/alternative band Good for Grapes, 2014 Peak Performance Project winners.