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Adventures in Engineering and Science (also known as Adventures, AES, or Aventures en génie et en sciences) is a bilingual, not-for-profit, student-run organization at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. While run under the Faculty of Engineering, Adventures is a joint venture between students in both the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Science. It is recognized under the umbrella of Actua, a national organization that links similar programs across Canada through resources, communication and sponsorships. The group focuses on teaching science and engineering to children through workshops, camps, clubs and outreach programs.

File:AES Logo 2007.png

The 2007 logo of Adventures in Engineering and Science.

AES is comprised of 18 employees, all fluent in both English and French and all undergraduate students in Science or Engineering at the University of Ottawa. Two Co-Directors are in charge of the camp, overseeing a team of Coordinators and Instructors. The Workshop, Camp, Club for Girls, Computer Camp, Staff and Volunteer, and Curriculum Coordinators are each tasked with organizing and overseeing a specific aspect of the organization, while the Instructors execute the front line operations. Often, Coordinators will be involved in the same activities as the Instructors depending on the time of the year and their specific mandate.

Adventures operates a year-round office at 161 Louis-Pasteur Private, Suite B08C, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on the lower level of the Colonel By building at uOttawa. Home to the Faculty of Engineering, this building is located in the midst of the University's Engineering and Science community. From their offices here, AES often uses nearby university facilities including the classrooms and labs in MacDonald Hall and Marion Hall, as well as lecture halls and computer labs in both Colonel By Hall and the School of Information Technology and Engineering (SITE).

History

Adventures was founded in 1991 by Engineering students {Name 1} and {Name 2}.

Workshops

Each year in May and June, AES delivers in-class presentations to elementary school students from grade one to grade eight. While focused in and around the Ottawa-Gatineau region, Adventures sends several instructors on trips to other communites such as Cornwall, Hawkesbury, and Pembroke, as well as many towns in Northern and Southern Ontario. As of 2008, their workshops are:

An Adventures instructor teaching a class in Pembroke, Ontario.

• "Fantastic Flight": A discussion of the physics and mechanics of designing and controlling aircraft.
• "Rockin' Geology": An examination of the properties, uses and history of several minerals.
• "Chemical Creations": An introduction to several chemical concepts including acidity, luminescence, combustion and polymerization.
• "CSI: Crime Scence Inquiry": A look at forensic science and some its basic tenants, including fingerprints and ABO blood types.
• "Optical Wonders": A series of experiments involving the nature and properties of light.
• "Use The Force": A discussion of various forces and how they affect the stability of structures.
• "Wild Kingdom": An interactive introduction to topics in biology including the physiology of carnivores and herbivores.
• "Space Travel": A discussion of astronomy and the many factors that must be considered when sending vehicles into space.
• "Green Conscience": An introduction to the issue of modern climate change including the greenhouse gas effect and a look at renewable versus non-renewable sources of energy.
• "Five Senses": An examination of the human body centered around the anatomy and physiology of the five senses.

Camp

The heart of Adventures is a summer camp that runs each summer for children ages 8 to 13. The day camp is held at the University of Ottawa and uses many of the facilities in the buildings of both faculties. Two alternating week-long curriculums are developed for each summer, so that children who attend the camp for two consecutive weeks do not repeat the same activities. While many projects feature common themes, no activity is ever repeated for at least five years. Typical activities include dissection, chemistry experiments, engineering challenges, physics demonstrations and more.

Children attending the camp are organized into groups lead by one or two Instructors. Often the Workshop, Staff & Volunteer and Curriculum Coordinators are also involved in delivering camp. As a not-for-profit organization, AES relies heavily on volunteer support, typically high school students interested in science and engineering or the University of Ottawa itself.

External Links

• Adventures in Engineering and Science
  
• Actua
  
• Student Academic Success Services
  
• NSERC - Michael Smith Award