Engineers prepare for week of events
In tandem with international engineering week, USU’s College of Engineering will hold its own energy-themed week Feb. 21-25.
Candace Clark, a member of the engineering council, said the energy theme was chosen, because it is something everybody can relate to, not just engineers.
“When you think of engineers you think of nerdy, smart, unsocial people, but this has a lot more to offer everyone,” Clark said.
She said engineers are sometimes stereotyped to have a certain reputation. Events that involve and inform the community change this perception, she said.
Everybody uses energy and technology in different ways, including through transportation and in buildings, Clark said.
USU alumnus Ron Jibson, president and CEO of Questar Gas, will start the week with a keynote speech at the college’s annual awards luncheon Feb. 21, said engineering Sen. Riley Bradshaw.
Traditionally the college has held a dinner instead of a lunch, but, in order to boost attendance, the engineering council created a mid-day event last year and significantly lowered the price of tickets, he said.
The council saw a huge improvement in attendance because of the changes, which prompted organizers to hold a luncheon again this year, Bradshaw said. To meet the standard set by last year’s keynote speaker, former astronaut and Apollo 13 flight controller Sy Liebergot, Bradshaw said the council chose Jibson because he’s familiar with the field of energy.
“He’s stayed really in touch with the university and kept himself involved,” Bradshaw said.
At the luncheon, students from each engineering discipline will compete for an overall outstanding engineering student award. The winning student receives the college’s nomination for a Robin’s Award at the end of the semester.
Kathy Bayn, an adviser to the engineering council who largely planned the events for the week, said this year the entries for the outstanding student award were competitive.
“(This was) one of the closest races we’ve seen in a number of years. Everybody was a standout in their field,” she said.
Tuesday’s events will also include an energy display in which entertainment media will be powered by student-built bike-pedal generators, Bayn said.
Each of the clubs within the engineering disciplines have planned small events and contests to be held during the week, Bayn said.
Activities include the Beta Quiz Bowl hosted by the engineering honors society, a paper rocket contest facilitated by the mechanical engineering students and a build-your-own “ghetto blaster” contest, a competition in which students build their own speakers, judged by the electrical engineering students, she said.
She said the week is a chance for students to bring what they’re learning in the classroom to real-life situations and involve the community in their projects.
Thursday night, the council will hold its second annual community expo, in which engineering students will display projects they’ve been working on throughout the year, Bayn said.
The event will include contests for children, displays and a chance for attendees to see the university’s “spider goats,” which are genetically modified to produce spider silk in their milk, she said.
“We wanted to engage the community more and showcase what students are doing and also get younger, high school- to middle school-age students to think about careers in science and engineering,” Bradshaw said.
There will be a number of local engineering firms represented at the expo to give current and prospective students ideas for future job prospects, Bradshaw said.
“This is what engineering is, not just the research university side,” he said. “A high school student comes here and looks around at all this stuff and can meet an actual employer from a company here in the valley and see, ‘This is what I would do after school.’ Having the industry side here is an improvement from last year.”
This year, Bayn said the college hopes to break its record of 400 people who attended last year’s expo. She said events like this are key to informing the public about what engineers actually do.
“They don’t drive trains, they do fun things that affect everybody,” Bayn said.
Thursday will also include the Miss Engineering pageant, an event that has been tradition for more than 20 years, Bayn said. The categories for the pageant are evening wear, business attire and nerd, she said.
“It is interesting to see the stereotype of women engineers being geeky or nerdy,” Bayn said. “They are also very bright.”
– allee.evensen@aggiemail.usu.edu