Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE-In celebration of 100 years of engineering, Kari Byron and Grant Imahara from Discovery Channel's "MythBusters" will be presenting at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville on April 21. Doors open at 5:45 p.m. at Williams Fieldhouse with the event beginning at 6:30 p.m. An autograph and photo session in the Pioneer Student Center will follow at 8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

A press conference for media and press will be held before the event that night at 5:30 p.m. in the Computer Conference Room of the Pioneer Student Center. In order to attend the press conference, media must obtain a pass. The conference is limited to 20 people, and each organization may only obtain two passes. Any media interested in obtaining a pass should contact Valerie Wetzel, assistant director of the Pioneer Involvement Center, at (608) 342-1448 or wetzelv@uwplatt.edu by April 18 at 4 p.m. Passes will be handed out at the conference.

"It's a very exciting learning experience and something you won't get anywhere else,” said Dan Winter, catalyst for the "MythBusters" event.

Byron and Imahara will discuss who they are, what they do and how they came to their current careers as mythbusters. The emcees will then ask them questions from UWP students. Boxes will be placed around campus before the event for students to submit their questions. An open microphone question and answer session will follow. After the presentation, Byron and Imahara will sign autographs for all interested attendees.

The two work with host Jamie Hyneman, co-host Adam Savage and Tory Belleci on the show "MythBusters" to test common myths submitted by viewers. Using the scientific method, the team explains and demonstrates whether or not a myth is scientifically possible.

Imahara is an electronics and radio control specialist. As a former animatronics engineer and model maker for George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic special effects shop, he worked on such movies as "The Lost World: Jurassic Park," "Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace," "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," "AI - Artificial Intellegence," "Van Helsing," "The Matrix Reloaded" and "Revolutions." Imahara also developed a custom circuit to cycle the Energizer bunny's arm beats and ears at a constant rate. Author of "Kickin' Bot: An Illustrated Guide to Building Combat Robots," Imahara earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Southern California.

Byron began her career as an artist after graduating from San Francisco State University. A highly skilled sculptor and painter, Byron exhibited at some of San Francisco’s leading galleries. She later found a job in model making and toy prototyping with Jamie Hyneman at M5 Industries. It was here that Byron got her start with "MythBusters".

The idea to bring in "MythBusters" came out of a brainstorming session with Vector, an organization made up of representatives from all engineering organizations on the UWP campus. The event is made possible by a grant from the Wilgus Distinguished Lecturer Fund. Former administrator, James Alva Wilgus whom Wilgus Hall is named after, set up the fund to contract distinguished lecturers on campus.

Free tickets to the event will be available at the Center for the Arts Box Office in Ullsvik Hall. On April 7 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., tickets will be available to the College of Engineering, Mathematics, and Science students. On April 8 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., tickets will become available to all students. Students must present a valid student I.D. to receive a ticket. Tickets will be available to the public on April 9 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Contact: Valerie Wetzel, assistant director of the Pioneer Involvement Center, at (608) 342-1448 Written by: Krystle Kurdi, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, kurdik@uwplatt.edu