Invent, Explore, and Discover
Why You Can Do Anything with Simpson Physics+Engineering at Simpson
It’s only October, but it’s already been an eventful semester for Physics+Engineering at Simpson College.
Mascot and Physics Club Elections
Students elected seniors Kayla Jensen and Bella Dix as Physics Club co-presidents. Our first Physics Club event will be a scavenger hunt on October 9.
Students also voted on names for our first-ever Physics+Engineering@Simpson mascot:
3D Prints Galore
You may have seen my earlier post about 3D printing. While not directly Simpson-related, this summer I volunteered to 3D print dinosaur fossils for a children’s hands-on dig site at Grandad’s Pumpkin Patch.
This made me realize how 3D printing is a must-have rapid prototyping skill that any aspiring physics+engineering student should learn. This semester, we’re trying to get students to develop 3D design and printing expertise. We’ve got students 3D printing everything from airplane models to gymnastics beams for hamsters.
Stargazing and Donations
How’d you like to see the rings of Saturn or Jupiter’s moons? New faculty member Dr. Tony Rogers successfully led our first stargazing event outside the Blank Performing Arts Center, which was well attended by students and Indianola community members. Interested in attending the next stargazing event? Subscribe or comment below, and we’ll send you the details.
Dr. Rogers isn’t the only Rogers contributing to the department. Tony’s father Rich Rogers (Class of ‘73) donated his time and expertise to build projectile launchers for the intro physics lab.
Engineering & Design Adventures
Our seniors are also kicking off their senior capstones, and that means we’ve got a ton of fun projects going on:
Minigolf Design
Bella Dix (Class of ‘26) continued her work designing a miniature golf course on campus. Bella is currently 3D printing a scale model prototype of several holes complete with Raspberry Pi-powered kinetic art and light up features. She’s also importing the design into the game engine Godot to make physics-based simulations of how the holes will work.
Virtual Wind Tunnel
Chris Duane (Class of ‘26) has a passion for planes. To better understand their designs, Chris is using Blender to simulate airflow around different plane wing designs to measure the lift-to-drag ratio. Below is the first pass at a simulation.
Star Wars
If you’re not content with engineering aircraft for this world, how about a galaxy far, far away. Ethan Sipos (Class of ‘26) is retrofitting a vintage 1970s Kenner Millennium Falcon with a working “radar” dish. In this case, he’ll be using a ultrasonic ranger to detect objects with echolocation rather than actual radar. Below is the first prototype of the mount.
From 3D-printed fossils to stargazing, from building mini-golf courses to simulating airplane aerodynamics—or even retrofitting a Millennium Falcon—our students are proving that Physics+Engineering is more than equations on a page. It’s creativity, problem-solving, and hands-on design. The lesson is simple: with Physics+Engineering at Simpson, you don’t have to choose just one path. You can do anything.
About the Author:
Aaron Santos is an innovator, author, and physicist. He’s written two books, How Many Licks? Or, How to Estimate Damn Near Anything and Ballparking: Practical Math for Impractical Sports Questions, which teach the art of estimation in fun and irreverent ways. He founded two nanoscience companies and is currently writing his third book, which explores the history, science, and future of nanotechnology. You can follow him on BlueSky.
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