School visits
Visit the UC Electrical and Computer Engineering Labs with your Y12/13 students with interactive demos and hands-on experiments. Timing is usually at the end of Term 2 (school calendar) and during University mid-year break.
To visit our Labs online, use the College of Engineering Virtual Tour. Choose LAB WINGS, then ECE WING and choose the Lab you want to visit or walk through.
2023
High School visits will run from 19-22 June. To book or find out more, contact us info@epecentre.ac.nz.
Previous events
2022: In early July, UC’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and the Electric Power Engineering Centre (EPECentre) welcomed year 12 and 13 Physics students from local high schools, into their labs.
The students experienced a variety of hands-on activities and demonstrations including:
- Students programme solar race carts to improve the energy efficiency of a system and then they race each other.
- Code cracker race which involved using an oscilloscope to read signals, and then translated the results into a puzzle to find the answer
- Induction and Magnetic Levitating Motors are demonstrated and optimising the design of wind turbine blades.
- High voltage demonstrations illustrating the fundamental risks and mitigation methods of high voltage electricity by experiencing lightning arc drawings and the Faraday cage.
The team received positive feedback from teachers and students. Some students commented they didn't realise Electrical Engineering was so interesting and varied.
2021: In early July, UC’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and the Electric Power Engineering Centre (EPECentre) welcomed 350 year 12 and 13 Physics students from Roncalli College, Burnside, Cashmere, Papanui, Christchurch Boys and Christchurch Girls High Schools, into their labs. The students experienced a variety of hands-on activities including learning how to control a rocket using GUI and an automation kit.
2019: Electrifying Students Visits!
In early July, UC’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and the Electric Power Engineering Centre (EPECentre) welcomed 250 year 12 and 13 Physics students from four local high schools, into their labs. The students experienced a variety of hands-on activities including:
- programming, optimising and racing solar carts
- breaking codes with an oscilloscope
- finding the optimum blade design and angles of wind turbines
- understanding the fundamental risks and mitigation methods of high voltage electricity by experiencing 15,000 V lightning arc drawings and the Faraday cage.
The team received positive feedback from teachers and students. Some students mentioned they didn’t know electrical engineering involved so many topics and enjoyed having passionate demonstrators (UC staff, technicians and students) supporting them.
In 2018, around 200 Year 12 and 13 students from five schools had the opportunity to tour UC’s Electrical and Computer Engineering facilities in July, helping to inform their physics studies. The students visited four laboratories (Nano, Electronics, Machines and Power Research) to learn - from our expert academics and technicians - about microfluidic devices, tesla coil, go cart and solar panels (from final year projects), EV cars, induction and magnetic levitating motors. They took part in a code cracker race, with a prize for the winner, using an oscilloscope to read signals, translating them into a puzzle and then find a word.
In 2017, UC’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and the Electric Power Engineering Centre (EPECentre) welcomed more than 500 mainly year 13 Physics students into their brand new labs in June.
In a variety of fun and interactive demonstrations, students from 11 South Island schools:
- learned about sensors, embedded systems and micro-chips by remotely piloting helicopters and interacting with autonomous robots
- explored a solar powered car, electric farm vehicle, the UC Motorsport FSAE Electric Racing car and the Shell Eco-Challenge car
- understood the fundamental risks and mitigation methods of high voltage electricity by experiencing 15,000 V lightning arc drawings and the Faraday Cage.
One Physics teacher summed up the visit saying: “It was a blast, exactly the kind of experience that we need to brighten our conversations in the physics class.”