Smith Hall will host its first Science Sunday of the year this weekend, featuring events such as 3-D printing demonstrations, arts and crafts and a lecture by Dana Ehret, curator of paleontology for the Alabama Museum of Natural History.
The University of Alabama’s engineering department will demonstrate 3-D printing of fossils and showcase new prints at the event. Jamey Grimes, an art professor at the University who assists the engineering department with the 3-D printing projects, said the process of 3-D printing is practical in the field of paleontology.
“We are helping develop exposure and public interest to new technology and to the things that are in the museum, but rather than just building toys, there is real, practical application in the field of paleontology that this kind of technology applies to,” Grimes said.
The Hodges Meteorite, a popular specimen at Smith Hall, has been scanned and printed in preparation for the Science Sunday event.
“We have a really nice scan of the Hodges Meteorite that is famous for hitting a woman in Sylacauga, Ala.,” Grimes said. “Not a lot of people get to play with meteorites. Maybe now they can.”
The engineering department will also bring additional 3-D printers to the event to facilitate demonstrations. Its printers will be designed for a better demonstration of how an image is printed in the 3-D format.
“We will have some demonstrations and will bring in the more portable MakerBot printers that help visualize the process for people that aren’t very familiar with it, because a lot of what we want to do is educate the public and expose them to what we’re talking about,” Grimes said.
Science Sunday is intended to showcase the paleontology collections on campus and to promote the different activities with which the department is involved. Ehret will also give a lecture on the fossils of the Alabama Black Belt region.
“Its going to be about fossils from the Alabama Black Belt. So we actually own 160 acres of property down in Dallas County, and we go down there and actively collect fossils,” Ehret said. “[The area is] historic for finding really good fossils.”
Allie Sorlie, the Alabama Museum of Natural History’s education outreach coordinator, said in addition to the 3-D printing, there will also be paleo-themed arts and crafts for kids, but all are welcome and encouraged to participate.
“There will be activities for kids mostly, but anyone is welcome to participate,” Sorlie said. “This is a great way for the community to see what the University is doing and also for the community to learn a little bit more about the state that they live in and its history.”
Sunday’s event is free and open to the public.
