on Saturday: how to make really big buildings out of concrete and break things for educational purposes

We've written before about the Museum of Science and Industry's Science Chicago program that, through partners as varied as UIC, the U of C, the Center for Neighborhood Technology and Facets Multimedia, has created a year long series of events to introduce young people to the joys of science.

We wanted to alert you to a great event this Saturday, July 18th, From Sidewalks to Skyscrapers: The Latest in Building Technology, which will feature a talk by a structural engineer to be named later from the Portland Cement Association who has worked on such signature reinforced concrete structures as the Burj Dubai and Chicago's Trump Tower and will cover the selection of structural materials and how not to have your really big building fall down in a hurricane or an earthquake. We're also promised live demo's including breaking concrete beams (cool!) and what should be a really interesting tour of the labs of CTL Group, which specializes in R&D and testing of construction materials, including the concrete used in the Burj Dubai.

It takes place this Saturday, July 18th, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at 5400 Old Orchard Road in Skokie, and it's limited to - depending on which website you consult - 30 or 50 participants. $7.00, ages 12 and up. Register here. Information here.