University Engineering students teamed up with the Rivanna Flying Club for their annual AERO Day event Sunday to encourage children’s interests in technical fields and share a love for things that fly.
Students of the University chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Rivanna Flying Club held the event to teach families to use model airplanes and rockets.
The CIO is primarily a professional club, but they reach out to the Charlottesville community annually to teach families about engineering through the AERO — Air Space Engineers Reaching Out — event.
Approximately 50 to 75 people attended the event at Milton Field, which lasted from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The event is a fun and accessible way to introduce families to science, technology, engineering and math, said AIAA at the University president Chandrakanth Venigalla, a fourth-year Engineering student.
“We do this event because we think it’s important to [help kids] develop an interest in engineering,” the fourth-year Engineering student said. “It’s important to have opportunities to get kids engaged in science and technology.”
Members showed attendees model plane demonstrations and helped them launch model rockets. Children also engaged in a model rocket building competition during the afternoon.
Although not every child may not walk away wanting to become an engineer, having fun with model planes and rockets can help establish a “baseline interest” for many, Venigalla said.
By demonstrating the fun of engineering, Venigalla said he hopes more kids will be drawn to the engineering field.
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