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On April 20th , 40 students of grades 3rd and 4th from Comstock Science Club, visited the LESS laboratory.
The students were divided in three groups of 12-13. Students were exited to see the Shake table and made models
using marshmallows and spaghetti. Bilal Ahmed Mohammed gave a brief demonstration of the Shake Table testing.
Later models built by the students were tested on the shake table.

On March 29th , 15 high school Students from South Haven High School visited the LESS laboratory.
The students were divided in two groups. Bilal Ahmed Mohammed and Mohammed Ahmed gave a brief demonstration
of the Shake Table testing and explained the activities done in the LESS laboratory and showed previous test videos.
Research activities, University life and the opportunities for the Students were discussed briefly. Later student made
models using marshmallows and spaghetti and their models were tested on Shake table.

On March 17th , 35 Students of 5th Grade from Plainwell Visions School visited the LESS laboratory.
The students were divided in groups of 4-5 Students. A brief demonstration of the Shake table, lab activities,
research and the tests was given by Bilal Ahmed Mohammed and Mohammed Ahmed. Students made models using marshmallows
and spaghetti and their models were tested on Shake table.

On March 15th , 40 Students of 6th and 7th Grades from Kalamazoo Christian Middle School
visited the LESS laboratory. The students were divided in groups of 4-5
students. Bilal Ahmed Mohammed and Mohammed Ahmed gave a brief
demonstration of the Shake Table testing and explained the activities
done in the LESS laboratory and showed previous test videos. Students
made models using marshmallows and spaghetti and their models were
tested on Shake table.

On September 3rd, 2015,
Western Michigan University invited incoming freshmen to participate in
Passport Day 2015. More than 100 Students visited the lab to learn
about LESS. Timothy Schnell and Bilal Ahmed Mohammed demonstrated the
shake table test on the structures built by students using Spaghetti
and mash mellows, and also discussed the research activates takes place
in the lab.

On June 29th , 36 Students under MDOT Youth Mentoring Program visited
the LESS laboratory. Bilal Ahmed Mohammed gave a brief demonstration of
the Shake Table testing and explained the activities done in the LESS
laboratory. Later structural models were built by students using
spaghetti and mash mellows that were tested on the LESS shake table. 
On May 21st , 51 Students of 7th and 8th Grades from Kalamazoo Christian Middle School
visited the LESS laboratory. The students were divided into four
groups. Bilal Ahmed Mohammed gave a brief demonstration of the Shake
Table testing and explained the activities done in the LESS laboratory
and showed previous test videos.

On May 12th, Loy Norrix and Milwood Middle
Schools Peace Jam students (80 of 6th-grade mentored by 10th-grader
students) visited the Laboratory of Earthquake and Structural
Simulation (LESS) at Western Michigan University. Assembled in groups
of 20, Bilal Ahmed Mohammed was able to provide demonstration and
explanation of LESS capabilities and operation. 
On November 22nd, Western Michigan University Society of Women Engineers hosted an “Engineering for a Day”
event to provide local middle school Girl Scouts an opportunity to experience engineering studies. A team of
6 girls were introduced to the innovative LESS with hands on experience and application demonstration of the
shake table. Bilal and Mohamed administered the shake table tests. LESS continues to engage in the education
of K-12 graders to render the rich endeavor of Civil Engineering.
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On August 27th, 2014, Western Michigan University invited incoming
freshmen to participate in Passport Day 2013. More than 70 Students
visited the lab to learn about LESS. Timothy Schnell, Ramon
Roberts, and Sear Rahimi demoed the shake table under the El Centro
earthquake input excitation, and discussed with the students what tests
are performed in the lab as well as how to get involved in future
projects.
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On July 24th, twenty students, 11th and 12th grade, participating in MDOTs
TRAC (Transportation and Civil Engineering) internship program
visited the LESS lab. The TRAC program encourages high
schoolers nearing graduation to pursue careers in Civil engineering.
Timothy Schnell demonstrated the LESS shake table and presented
the ongoing state-of-the-art research being done at LESS.
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On March 27, students from the Green Meadow Science
Exploration and Discovery Club visited LESS. Adam Mueller presented to
them and allowed them to test the structures they built on the shake
table.
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- Abby Chapin and Betsy Strehl
from the Kalamazoo Area Math and
Science Center competed in the ISEF research competition. They pose
with Dr. Shao on the picuture to the left and their display is on the
picutured on the right.
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- On February 6th, Western
Michigan University invited students from Paramount
Charter Academy. 60 students visited the lab to learn about
LESS. Adam Mueller demoed the shake table and discussed with the
students what tests are performed in the lab as well as how to get
involved in future projects.
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Year 2013 |
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- On November 7, students from Plainwell
Schools visited LESS. Adam Mueller
demonstrated the shake table and the students were then able to
build structures out of spaghetti and marshmallows and
use the shake table to test their structures.
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- On October 31, 76 students from
Van Buren
Intermediate School District visited LESS. Christopher Sawyer
presented on the equipment, current testing, and future work of
LESS. The students then formed groups and constructed structures
out of spaghetti and marshmallow. The structures were tested on
the shake table to see if they could survive a sixty second sin
sweep.

- On September 24, Dr. K G
Bhatia, the CEO at D-CAD Technologies (Development Centre for Applied
Dynamics) in New Delhi, India, visited LESS. Dr. Shao and Adam Mueller
showcased the lab and described its testing capabilities.

- On August 29, Western
Michigan University invited incoming freshmen to participate in
Passport Day 2013. More than 70 Students visited the lab to
learn about LESS. Christopher Sawyer and Timothy Schnell demoed
the shake table under the El Centro earthquake input excitation, and
discussed with the students what tests are performed in the lab as well
as how to get involved in future projects.
- On May 29, 39 7th
graders from Kalamazoo
Christian School visited the LESS. They
were divided into groups and built spaghetti and marshmallow
structures. After being given an introduction to the LESS lab
they were allowed to test their structures on the shake table.
Below are pictures of the students testing their structures.

- On April 19, close to
100 5th graders from 12th
Street Elementary School visited LESS.
The students built structures out of spaghetti and marshmallows and
then used the shake table to test their structures.

- On February 27, 65 3rd
graders from Paramount Charter Academy visited
LESS. Chris Sawyer introduced the equipment to the students and
operated the shake table so that they could test their structures.

- On November 2, 40
students from the Gagie School visited LESS. Chris Sawyer and Adam Mueller gave a
presentation on earthquake engineering and demonstrated the shake
table. Later the students built structures using spaghetti and
marshmallows and tested them on the shake table. Pictured left is
LESS member Adam Mueller presenting to the students, and pictured right
are students preparing to test their structure.

- On August 28, LESS once again
hosted WMU's incoming freshmen during "Passport to Success". Students formed teams and built
structures out of spaghetti and marshmallows. Then they tested
their structures using the shake table. LESS members Chelsea
Griffith and Chris Sawyer helped with the operation of the shake table.

- On May 14, 70 7th grade
students from Kalamazoo Christian School visited the LESS. They were divided into small groups
and created structures out of spaghetti noodles and marshmallows.
Their structures were then tested using the shake table (pictured
below).
- On November
18, 2011, 18 students
and 2 chaperones from Mattawan Middle School visited LEES. They saw the demonstration of the
shake table experiment. Also, the LESS member, Chelsea Griffith made a
presentation which was about what civil engineering is and how many
subjects it includes.
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On August 30,
LESS, as one of the featured engineering laboratories in the
WMU’s “Passport to Success,”
welcomed incoming first-year students. Almost
400
students worked together as teams
to build structures using spaghetti and marshmallows (pictured left).
Structures were then subjected to seismic tests in a shake table
demonstration (pictured right).

- On May 12 and May 15, 7th
grade students from Kalamazoo Christian School and
7th/8th grades students from the Gagie School visited the LESS to
see the demonstration of the shake table test. They also built their
own specimen for seismic testing using the lab facility. A total
of 130 students visited lab. The pictures below shows LESS member
Chelsea Griffith interacting with the students.

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- On November 12 and
16, 2010, a total of 100 students from the Gagie School (in seven groups)
visited the LESS and watched the demonstration of a shake table
test presented by LESS member Griffin Enyart.
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Western Michigan University ----
Department of Civil and Construction Engineering
Laboratory of Earthquake and Structural
Simulation ---- Last Updated: 5-31-2015
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