What if we could bring the GEARS workshop experience directly to you? That question drove us to try something completely new in January 2025: our first-ever traveling workshop, hosted at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). This groundbreaking idea started simply enough, as a conversation about UTEP sending students to our annual August workshop in Arkansas. But the thought quickly expanded: what would GEARS look like if we delivered it right on campus?
The catalyst was Dr. Marianne Karplus, who reached out to explore sending a large group of UTEP students to us. While the interest was strong, the logistics and cost of transporting so many students across the country presented a significant hurdle. Rather than seeing this as an obstacle, we saw a new path forward. After some productive discussion, we decided to pilot a direct, on-site version of GEARS at UTEP, proving that a customized, cost-effective solution could be the future of our workshop program.
Designing a Travel-Friendly Workshop
Since we didn’t have access to our shop facilities, fabrication equipment, or local industry tours, the traveling workshop was intentionally abbreviated to three days. Rather than trying to replicate the full on-site experience, we made a strategic decision to focus on what would be most valuable for UTEP’s students.
Knowing UTEP has a strong legacy as a field-oriented geophysics program, we reworked the curriculum accordingly. This meant removing some lab-focused classroom topics, such as control system theory, and replacing them with highly practical, hands-on exercises centered on field instrumentation and deployment.
Logistics Lessons
The workshop started with an immediate, unexpected stress test. The equipment we shipped ahead, containing nearly everything students needed for the labs, was returned by UPS as undeliverable. That is a major problem when your entire workshop fits into a few shipping cases.
Thanks to fast coordination between our team and our UPS driver back in Arkansas (shout out to Dave!), the packages were reshipped overnight and most arrived the following day. With some minor schedule reshuffling, the disruption was largely transparent to the students. However, for us, it was an important, early lesson in contingency planning for all future travel workshops.
A Willing and Engaged Audience
UTEP students and faculty were incredibly welcoming and engaged throughout the workshop. They were willing to help us test new activities, source supplies locally when needed, and provide thoughtful feedback along the way. That flexibility made UTEP an ideal environment for experimenting with new curriculum ideas. Several new labs were developed specifically for this workshop, all of which were later carried over into our on-site GEARS workshop in August.
In the field wiring lab, we covered different wire-joining techniques, when to use each, and how to seal connections for outdoor deployments. After the walkthrough, students spent time using the tools, practicing techniques, and asking questions. One participant even brought in a damaged cable from a field instrument and repaired it during the session. This is exactly the kind of immediately applicable training we aim to provide.
Solar power systems had been requested in prior workshops and were an obvious fit for a field-oriented audience. Students assembled a complete system using a solar panel, charge controller, battery, and load. While the wiring itself is straightforward, the exercise builds confidence quickly and reinforces earlier lessons. We also worked through how to size panels and batteries for a given instrument — a critical skill for field deployments.
“… it was very thorough for such a limited amount of time and extensive topics to cover.”
We also introduced an oscilloscope lab focused on practical troubleshooting techniques, using full-size Rigol scopes purchased specifically for classroom use. We’d tried scope labs before with handheld units and had mixed results; the improved tools made a noticeable difference.
That said, oscilloscopes remain challenging if you’re new to time-domain analysis. This lab was successful and clearly worth keeping, but we got some good ideas for further refinement.
Did a Travel Workshop Work?
Much of the remaining content was reorganized material from previous GEARS workshops, rearranged to follow a more logical progression through instrumentation concepts. Student feedback showed that the experiment worked, and more importantly, that it worked well enough to be worth repeating.
With some minor tweaks, a traveling version of GEARS can be a strong option for larger departments, particularly those with a field emphasis and limited travel budgets. In many cases, flying us to you can be significantly more cost-effective than sending a large group across the country.
If you’re interested in bringing a GEARS workshop to your department, reach out through our contact page — we’d be happy to talk through what it could look like for your program.
“Excellent instructors. Hands-on activities are great! “
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