The University’s Engineering Open House returned for its 100th in-person anniversary after a two-year hiatus meant a lot of different things for different people. For kids in nearby schools, it meant a day field trip, and for visiting families, it meant an opportunity to spend the day seeing what the University’s engineers have to offer.

One of the most popular exhibits was a small tent on the Bardeen Quad wherein lay Thor’s hammer — Mjölnir. The hammer left everyone feeling unworthy to lift the hammer since an electromagnet kept the hammer stuck to the base and made it near impossible to move unless the magnet was switched off.

Although each EOH proved to be a fun time between Robobrawl — an annual combat robotics event consisting of matches over the two days — and a full scale, moving 3D printed hand, the event also served as a platform to showcase their work.

Events like the Amazon recruit meet & greet, Caterpillar panel session and the Dyson and James Dyson Award Tech talk attracted both students and visitors alike.  

The Startup Showcase was integral for Chaitanya Gulati, senior in Engineering and founder of his start-up: NASADYA.

“Something I’m really trying to do right now is growing the team and get the name out,” Gulati said. “With EOH having so many people coming in, it definitely helped us get more visibility and find more talent.”

NASADYA stood out among various other startups present at the open house as it tackled the problem of the overproduction of power and carbon emissions.

Gulati’s startup works primarily on the process of electrolysis to break down the water molecule. Following this, the startup aims to use the acquired hydrogen as a cleaner fuel substitute. However, the process of electrolysis requires a great amount of power. So, their solution was to repurpose the excess power produced by conventional methods.

“I think, a big reason for why I started was my experiences growing up in India,” Gulati said. “I went to boarding school in northern India, and they really believed in service and helping the community. We’d gone up into the mountains once after the 2013 flash floods.”

Having witnessed the breath of destruction coupled with how life haulted in the villages the moment the sun goes down, Gulati’s eyes were open to the problem that was the lack of access to energy.

Following this, Gulati spent time researching potential solutions and eventually discovered that in California, there was a lot more energy being generated than needed. This prompted him to think about possibilities on how to repurpose this energy, eventually leading to the early beginnings of his startup.

For older high schoolers and recently admitted students with an interest in robotics, EOH had the infamous BarisTau Bot located at the CIF for the duration of the event, attracting plenty of attention from people of all ages.

Kappa Theta Tau, the professional engineering fraternity responsible for the BarisTau Bot, typically runs several different projects for EOH every year. This year, Kunal Sheth, sophomore in LAS and Kappa Theta Tau project chair, said that this year he wanted to design something that was more inclusive of other engineering majors as well.

“We designed a project that was in the realm of food safety and food preparation because it includes a very broad range of engineers,” Sheth said.

According to Sheth, projects are traditionally geared toward computer engineers, programmers and control systems engineers. This year, their project also included chemical engineers and material engineers for things like chemical compatibility with different materials and foods.

To top it all off, the event concluded on Saturday with an hour-long Tesla Coil concert demonstration featuring a costumed Darth Vader and songs from the likes of AC/DC and Justin Timberlake. 

Victoria Kindratenko, EOH 100 co-director, emphasized that the committee was comprised entirely of students — for some of who this would be the first in-person EOH. 

“Everyone had been working hard and nonstop since June to make this event happen,” Kindratenko said. “I’ve never been more proud of us for getting so much done and for being able to share STEM with so many young minds!”

Over 600 elementary, middle and high schoolers registered to attend EOH 100, making organizing an event of such a scale a feat in and of itself.

Rohini Ramesh, sophomore in Engineering, said that for her, the best part of her EOH experience was showing the school kids all the various exhibits, demos and technology. 

“They’re just so excited about everything,” Ramesh said. 

Mary Ehmann, junior in LAS, said she found the Illinois Fire Service Institute’s demo on controlling dorm room fires to be intriguing.

“They showed you how much more difference a sprinkler can make in your dormitory compared to having nothing,” Ehmann said.

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