By Philipp Geiger
When going to the ocean, all I can think about its getting in the water and body surf the waves. I am equally fascinated and frightened by the energy these waves carry. This love for waves in the ocean gave us the idea to have an exhibit about waves to pass on the excitement to you.
We started off brainstorming all the different forms of waves that can be found in nature. Wave like shapes and patterns can be found literally everywhere. It usually describes some sort of energy, sound, or light rays and can, therefore, be observed with almost all our senses. What caught our attention the most when looking for ways to bring waves closer to people, was the Chladni Plate. It is a horizontal plate in contact with a speaker and is a spectacular way to visualize sound waves of different frequencies. See yourself at the exhibit.
When it came to construction, the most challenging part of the building was the wave pool. Even though we all know what waves look like at the beach, simulating the movement and shapes is extremely fun and helpful to understand certain phenomena. Having an idea was nice, however, the delicate building was calling for our fabulous builder JuWayne. He did a great job in showing the dynamics of water on a small scale. Among others things it becomes clear how a wave that originates far out in the ocean becomes as tall as it gets on shore.
Throughout the process of putting together this exhibit, the MoSS exhibits team was full of ideas and excitement. Because it is a group effort, many fun things come together and can be accomplished. What I like most about our group is that we come from different backgrounds. Engineers collaborate with biologists, teachers, and graphic designers and each of us is learning so much in the process. Now we hope the wave exhibit reflects the great work behind the scenes. The surf is on!