Pictured are James Folmar, 1986 graduate and director of Boeing’s H-47 operations, left; Mark Sharer, director of development for the College of Engineering; Steven Glusman, 1981 graduate and director of advanced vertical lift; Dean Amr Elnashai; and Bill Grauer, manager of the wind tunnel facility the group was photographed at.

Penn State Engineering Dean Amr Elnashai’s travels took him to the Philadelphia on July 17 as he visited Boeing’s manufacturing facility in Ridley Park.

The plant is the manufacturing home for the H-47 Chinook helicopter and the V-22 Osprey.

In addition to touring the Chinook assembly area and wind tunnel facility, Elnashai had lunch with a number of Penn State graduates employed by Boeing.

National Geographic show host David Rees, left, dicusses a shovel experiment with Andris Frievalds, professor of industrial engineering. In the “Going Deep With David Rees” segment, the two measured the workload, which is the pounds of dirt Rees was able to move with each shovel compared to his physical exertion, oxygen and heart rate. (Photo credit: National Geographic)

Dig a hole. Sounds easy enough.

Or is it?

That’ll be the topic of an upcoming episode of “Going Deep With David Ress” on the National Geographic channel. The show focuses on teaching viewers how to do things they think they already know and explores the science and history behind seemingly mundane tasks.

Andris Freivalds, professor of industrial engineering, will be a guest on the show and conduct an experiment with David Ress where the two will compare the weight of dirt that can be moved with the amount of physical exertion.

“How to Dig a Hole” will air at 10 p.m. on July 21 and again at 10 p.m. on July 25. More on the episode can be found at: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/going-deep-with-david-rees/episodes/how-to-dig-a-hole/.

A girl gets some hands-on experience in the art of origami during the Discovery Space’s day camp focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics for girls. (Photo credit: Curtis Chan)

So what does origami have to do with engineering?

That’s the question posed to girls ages 6 through 8 during this week’s Exciting Endeavors day camp hosted by Discovery Space of Central Pennsylvania.

The half-day camp is designed to expose girls to career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The camp’s unit on origami was led by Mary Frecker, professor of mechanical engineering, and Rebecca Strzelec, professor of visual arts at Penn State Altoona, with help from college and high school student volunteers.

For the girls, it was an eye-opening lesson on the intersection of art and engineering. They learned how engineers use origami’s folding principles to design everything from stents that are inserted into the body to help open a blocked blood vessel to tires for Mars rovers that can greatly expand and contract, making it easier for the vehicle to explore planetary surfaces.

The point, Frecker said, is to show the girls how engineers team with artists to solve problems and develop designs.