DUANE SHERRILLEditor

The Hands-On Science Center celebrated Engineer’s Week with the grand opening of their new Electricity and Magnetism wing this past week.

“This is a very exciting and busy week at the Hands-On Science Center,” said Director Sean Amidon of the events that including the ribbon cutting for the new wing as well as Mardi Gras event there this past Tuesday. “We decided to have all of these events in celebration of Engineer’s Week, including free events Friday and Saturday.”

Tullahoma’s HOSC gets about 15,000 visitors annually, with about two-thirds of those being children. They also have 400,000 virtual visitors, most through their Facebook page. Admission to the center is $7.75 and the center is open weekends year-round. They are open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays. They also open for special events such as the ones held during Engineer’s Week.

The new wing was sponsored by TUA and TVA, with representatives present from both for the ribbon cutting and to present a $15,000 check. The wing joins the recently opened Gear Wall and Human Body wing as well as the other specialized wings in the facility.

Making the new wing a reality was Austin Sisco who spent an estimated 120 hours building the new area.

“One thing we did was install a plasma tube,” Sisco said, noting he was very nervous about handling the piece of technology since it cost around $3,000. “And then we had to build the wall which had to be built from scratch. We also put in a giant light switch that is fully functional.”

Along with installing the tubes, which visitors are free to touch, Sisco used repurposed parts to building a scaled down version of a utility pole to show how electricity is sent along lines.