Creative Discovery Museum has partnered with EPB to create an exhibit about the Smart Grid, Fiber Optics and how electricity makes it into the home, in an effort to showcase the ways technology is helping transform our community, officials said. The exhibit is featured in the Museum’s expanded Make It Space area.
The EPB Smart Grid technology simulator, programmed by local software developer L2D, highlights how EPB’s Smart Grid responds to power outages during inclement weather. As a storm passes through the city, game users work in conjunction with EPB’s Smart Grid technology to restore power to the residents of Chattanooga.
Through a partnership with OFS, a manufacturer of optical fiber, visitors are introduced to the characteristics of optical fiber, how it is made and why pure glass is an optimal material to transmit data and communications. In this section of the exhibit, visitors investigate total internal reflection by passing a laser beam of light through the preform and learn about splicing optical fibers.
The exhibit also provides children with a basic understanding of electricity. Visitors can build their own circuits and investigate how electricity flows through the grid and into their homes by playing with breakers and switches.
“Electricity is a mystery in every child’s life. Presenting electricity in a visible way makes the topic approachable and understandable,” said Karen Dewhirst, science manager at Creative Discovery Museum. “EPB’s exhibit in the Make It space is a perfect fit. It’s important for kids to understand circuitry, robotics and programming if they are going to be the inventors and makers of the future. This exhibit provides exposure to all of those concepts.”
“We are very excited to have EPB’s Smart Grid and fiber optic technology on display in the Museum,” said Henry Schulson, executive director at Creative Discovery Museum. “EPB has been a great supporter of the Museum for many years. We are happy to now have a way to share the many great things they are doing for the community in an educational format.”
“I am proud of our partnership with the Creative Discovery Museum and the opportunity EPB has to help inspire education in a fun and engaging way,” said EPB President and CEO David Wade. “This hands-on exhibit can help children understand how Chattanooga’s fiber optic network works.”
Creative Discovery Museum is open seven days a week from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.