A week in the middle of BFE, blowing shit up!
I always knew I was born too soon. 
Those who will attend the 2007 sessions are all U.S. citizens who are at least 17 years old and have expressed an interest in enrolling at UMR. The cost of the camp, including room, board and field trips, is $450.
Honey? I know what I want for Christmas! I qualify, I do. Sounds like summers on the farm, except with professionals instead of my uncle George.
I’m betting I can convince my company to send me to that next year… if I can’t, I should at least be able to write it off on my taxes. I’ve been looking for something like that class for a while now.
It sounds a lot like the mini-course-version of my master degree studies (engineering mechanics, explosives specialization). It actually sounds almost identical to the pyrotechnics class I took this spring, including the hands on part (although we were only at Sandia National Labs for one full day).
It seems odd that they mention UMR is the only school that offers a minor in explosives, since NMT offers a master degree. And, FWIW, plans to introduce an undergrad explosives minor in the next course catalog.
I lived in Rolla for two years. While I am quite fond of the little town, parts of it could do with a good explosion.
Feh. I’ve finally got a slot to EOD school. These minors will pale in comparison to real miners.
Tripler
That’s all I’ve got to say about this blasted subject.
Sounds like someone has learned an easy way to make a few bucks while teaching nothing of practical use.
Maybe I’ll start a school to teach 8th graders how to spray machine-gun bullets around. And I’ll give it a fancy name like “Ballistic/Trajectory Engineeering From Single-Point Origin”, or something like that.
Should rake 'em in.
Yeah, you’re right! Energetic materials have absolutely no practical use whatsoever. Know anybody who’s had their life saved by an airbag? That’s a pyrotechnic. Every used a safety match? Ditto. Enjoyed a firework display? I bet you’ve never used anything made from iron (steel), used electricity generated in a coal-fired power plant, or any other natural resource that must be mined, either.
There is, in fact, a course similar to “Ballistic/Trajectory Engineering”, several, in fact. Orbital mechanics comes to mind immediately, I could think of others.
Just because the mass media portrays energetic materials, 99% of the time, as tools of terrorism, does not mean that there is no practical uses available that benefit society and spawn interest in engineering in those who otherwise may have chosen a different, less rewarding (for them) career path.
Unlike the fencing camp I saw on campus last week?
Fencing teaches coordination, grace and balance. That’s why a number of ballet students take classes in it.
Besides, sword-fighting, like explosives, is fun! Why does everything have to have a practical purpose? Spitting for distance isn’t a really crucial job skill for most people, but I sure had fun learning how to do it.
A camp that put up fencing? 
And the watermelon is good, too!
Explosives camp, eh? I think I know who their target market is. Do the graduates go on to intern at “Mythbusters?” 
That’s right.
And if someone wants to learn practical expertise in those fields, they go to college and take the applicable engineering courses.
Not some half-assed summer camp.
They’re not half-assed until after the class.
You’re just jealous because you’re too old to go.
Yeah, whatever.
Get back to me when those JD’s put some C-4 in your mailbox, dummy.
Why would lawyers bomb a mailbox?
When I was 16, I took a “half-assed summer camp” in materials engineering. When I was done with the class (and yes, 70% of the instruction time was lecture, 30% lab), I thought, “Holy shit, this engineering stuff is cool!” Had it not been for that class, I may not have pursued engineering. Although I did end up switching my major to mechanical, I strongly believe that week really influenced my academic choices.
Note that the “camp” is offered by UMR (which happened to be a school I looked at based on their programs), and aside from the purely academic end, also gives students a taste of college life (staying in the dorms, eating crappy cafeteria food, etc.). Considering the academic end, though, one of the mini experiments we did concerned the melting point of lead-tin solders in different concentrations. I was interested enough to do my science fair project during my senior year of high school on metal alloys and eutectic points. IMHO, these week long courses certainly teach practical knowledge, if not necessarily “expertise”.
:rolleyes: The class doesn’t teach you how to illegally obtain C4, nor how to make any IEDs. The JDs you speak of will most likely already know how to make IEDs, and will either not be motivated enough to enroll in the camp, or already know more malicious ends than the course will offer.