The term “viscoelastic polymer” may sound unfamiliar to those who are not part of the engineering community. Its translation, however, may be surprising.

Viscoelastic polymer is Silly Putty, according to Laura Mayes, a freshman in mechanical engineering.

When the Introduction to Engineering & Problem Solving instructors assigned a project for all freshmen in the college, Mayes chose to teach sixth-graders how to make the stretchy polymer.

“It’s a fun activity,” she said. “It kept the sixth-graders happy and taught them a lot about how materials work together.”

Mayes was one of 1,400 freshman engineering students who presented their designs in the McKimmon Center last Tuesday. Teams displayed handcrafted hovercrafts, bubble machines, fountains and concrete canoes, among other things.

“Actually doing a project themselves, this is a taste of real-life engineering,” said Laura Bottomley, Director of Women in Science in Engineering and E101 course instructor. “They get the opportunity to design something, see it doesn’t work the way they want it to, and then design it again.”

Danita Lampkin, a freshman in general engineering, along with group members Francisco Suarez, a freshman in electrical engineering, Soufiane Qarouach, a freshman in mechanical engineering and Ryan Hardin, a freshman in general engineering, opted to design a “Rube Goldberg” machine.

A Rube Goldberg machine is a contraption that uses a series of simple machines to achieve an end goal.

The group used a pulley, a wheel and axle in the form of a fan, inclined plane, a wedge and a lever. The end goal in this case was to flip a quarter into a cup.

The engineering students were expected to provide the materials specific to their projects, and Lampkin said that was the most difficult aspect of the assignment.

For Suarez, the actual design was the most challenging part.

“We came up with the craziest idea we could think of and tried to make it work,” he said.

Suarez said the team worked in a machine shop in Mann Hall from the beginning of the semester until the date of the presentations.

Leaf blowers were common in the McKimmon Center, as various groups attempted to make homemade hovercrafts move.

According to Michael Stover, a freshman in civil engineering and member of a hovercraft team, there were distinct guidelines to be followed when constructing each hovercraft.

“They gave us criteria we had to meet,” he said.

The criteria included the hovercraft’s ability to navigate through a course with a 30-degree turn. Also, it could not be powered by gasoline and could not exceed six feet in width.

Stover and his freshman teammates Lisa Henderson in civil engineering, Ross Perry in general engineering and Nathan Zellers in general engineering worked for three weeks to create a hovercraft that was 30 inches in diameter and powered by two leaf blowers.

Stover said the project gave him a glimpse of an engineer’s work.

“You have to overcome the same problems as a real engineer — just on a smaller scale,” he said.

Along with leaf blowers, other items that are usually found outside were scattered among the display tables.

A number of teams chose to create flowing water fountains.

Joe Brewer a freshman in general engineering, Eric Kelly, a freshman in mechanical engineering, Thomas Madre, a freshman in general engineering and Allison Schuster, a freshman in chemical engineering, constructed a fountain that could be considered out of the ordinary.

Their project, entitled “Volcano Fountain” consisted of a Christmas tree stand covered in foam insulation.

The team painted the foam in reds, oranges, and browns in semblance of lava.

“We thought of what has flowing water — or lava,” Brewer said.

Concrete canoes were popular projects among the engineering freshmen.

According to Nadia Alboulhosn, a freshman in biomedical engineering, E101 professors placed limitations on the number of groups making concrete canoes. Alboulhosn said her group members, Jonathan Edwards, a freshman in computer engineering, and Ashley Young, a freshman in biological engineering, promptly e-mailed their professor to claim a spot in the concrete-canoe contest.

“I’ve learned you need to give enough time for trial and error,” she said.

According to Alboulhosn, she and her group members created a mold using a foam block, typically used to hold artificial plants.

The construction process included sanding, sealing and painting the canoe, complete with a red-and-black Wolfpack logo.

In order to win the concrete-canoe contest, the canoe must hold the most weight before sinking.

Alboulhosn said the process of creating the canoe taught a lesson in teamwork.

“Everybody in the group has different skills that came together to complete the project,” she said.

Louis Martin-Vega, dean of the College of Engineering, said the group projects gave freshmen an opportunity for hands-on experience that students typically do not have until their junior years.

“What is really good about this is first-year students are able to connect with what engineering really is and connect more directly with the world of engineering,” he said.

Martin-Vega said the faculty of the college of engineering is working to create opportunities for students to have actual engineering experience.

“We are making every effort we can to make sure the ‘E’ in engineering is ‘excitement,'” he said.