Visit the Institute’s Booth at the USA Science & Engineering Festival
Come visit the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) in Booth 1252 at the 4th USA Science & Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C., April 16-17, and take a virtual walk through Mars City. Tour the research facility, sleeping rooms, bathrooms, food production station, manufacturing area and even the Mars Rover garage, all by wearing three-dimensional (3D) oculus rift goggles while virtually walking through the Mars City building information model (BIM).
The exhibit, which is geared toward introducing middle school and high school students to the building sciences, is part of the Mars City Facility Operations (Ops) Challenge. NIBS teamed up with the Total Learning Research Institute (TLRI) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to develop the Facility Ops Challenge, which puts students in charge of operating the Mars City base. Students use the information in the BIM and the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) to schedule work orders and prioritize technician workloads.
The NIBS booth is just one of more than a dozen booths in the Festival’s Building Science Pavilion, all highlighting career opportunities in the building sciences.
NIBS and TLRI recently rolled out a new Building Sciences Career Center on the WBDG Whole Building Design Guide® web portal at www.wbdg.org/BuildingSciencesCareerCenter, which provides information about different careers in the building industry. The Career Center includes interviews with a host of building industry professionals, from code officials and fire researchers to architects, engineers and interior designers, and provides links to additional resources from related associations in the industry.
Bring the kids and celebrate science with some of the biggest names in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The event is free of charge and includes hands-on science and engineering activities for people of all ages.
Learn more about the Mars Facility Ops Challenge.
Get information about the USA Science & Engineering Festival and Expo.