Engineering Programs Inspiring the Community (EPIC) Lab

Three students work on iPads in the Outreach Lab

Are you a parent of a student interested in engineering? Are you a scout leader looking for engineering opportunities for your scout troop or child’s science club? Are you a home-school parent looking for supplemental activities? Join University of Nevada, Reno students on a Saturday for our in-person EPIC Lab!

The EPIC Lab provides exciting hands-on lessons in various engineering topics, designed for students in 6th through 12th grade. Students can expect to learn about one discipline of engineering and participate in two-three interactive learning opportunities. Lesson topics change every three to six months.

What EPIC Lab offers

  • "Introduction to Engineering" presentation: University engineering students talk about what it’s like to be an engineering student and discuss the different engineering disciplines.
  • High-quality instruction: Content is developed by University of Nevada, Reno engineering students.
  • Hands-on activity: Participants get the opportunity to be engineers and conduct an engineering experiment.
  • Social interaction: Participants will engage in discussions and icebreaker activities.

EPIC Lab lessons

  • Saturday, October 29 join Dr. Yufeng Zheng and his team to learn about chemical and materials engineering! Dr. Zheng has designed a lesson in which participants will have the opportunity to operate the Phenom Electron Microscope, with assistance from graduate students, to see samples such as salt, sugar, insects and leaves. These activities are designed to foster young students’ curiosity about materials science and engineering through hands-on experience with electron microscopy. This EPIC Lab is for 9-12 grades.

Register for this 9-12 grade EPIC Lab

  • Saturday, November 5 join our student mentors in learning about solar energy and how to live off grid! The goal of this lesson is to introduce the engineering criteria and constraints through off grid living. This EPIC Lab is for 6-8 grades.

Register for the 6-8 grade EPIC Lab

For inquiries about the EPIC Lab, please contact Samantha Bickert at sbickert@unr.edu.

All of our K-12 outreach programs are made possible through the generous support of The Mallory Foundation and Nevada Gold Mines. We appreciate their continued support.