The Observer, February 15, 2008
Volume XL, Issue 17
E-Week will promote engineering, provide networking opportunities
For one week this semester, engineering students and professors will unite to promote the study of engineering across all disciplines.
From Monday to Friday, the various engineering departments, working together under a "Collaboration for Creation" theme, will host a variety of events and activities for engineers and non-engineers alike. Engineers Week is meant to "promote engineering in such a way that is both entertaining and enriches the student's educational development," according to Heather Herd, president of the Engineer's Council.
The event is also held nationally throughout many colleges, universities, and elementary schools to educate more students about the different disciplines engineering has to offer. The website for E-Week (www.eweek.org) additionally has activities and tips for female and minority engineers, including "Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day," which will be celebrated at select schools nationwide. The website will also host the "Global Marathon For, By and About Women in Engineering," a live webcast and teleconference that will run for 24 hours starting at noon on March 26. The webcast will feature presentations and question-and-answer sessions, promoting knowledge of issues in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics for young females.
Nationally, "the week is also used to educate primary school children about careers in engineering disciplines," said Council vice president Natalie Jackson.
But that doesn't mean the week will be fraught with dry lectures. In fact, students will be able to enter a bridge-building competition and a battery-powered-car competition, presented by the Department of Civil Engineering and the Department of Mechanical Engineering, respectively, on Friday.
In addition to the competitions, the week's events seek to allow students the ability to network with all of the engineering departments. At the Engineering Expo, to be held Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Nord Hall, current and prospective students can learn what each department does. The event will include lab tours, professional and industrial engineering organizations from around Cleveland, and presentations of faculty research.
"It provides an opportunity for students to start developing instrumental relationships with faculty and understanding their chosen major," said Herd.
The Society of Women Engineers will hold a luncheon on Tuesday, Feb. 19 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Nord 304. The luncheon will feature Sunniva Collins, Ph.D., a senior research fellow, who will discuss career possibilities for women in her talk, "A Voyage of Discovery: Career Considerations for Women in Engineering."
Another of the events is the Case Alumni Association Accenture E-week Banquet, which Jackson considers the week's highlight. An annual event, the banquet will allow students to network with faculty, alumni, and corporations. And because E-Week is featuring biomedical engineering this year, the keynote address will be given by Kent Novak, vice president of Medical and High Reliability Semiconductors within Analog for Texas Instruments. Novak will be discussing Texas Instruments' new medical devices department.
"Last year we utilized the word imagine "to attempt to inspire new innovative ideas and this year the theme plays off what we did last year– thus develop new ideas but bring those ideas to fruition. Texas Instruments' new focus on medical devices can help to build this theme," said Herd.
The Department of Biomedical Engineering will be displaying graduate and undergraduate research at the banquet as well, according to Jackson.
The overarching goal of E-Week is to promote the study of engineering through students and non-students alike. The focus of each event is to provide entertaining yet educational means for students to enrich their education.
"The networking opportunities are limitless and the atmosphere that we create is one of low pressure and provides easy access for all students, not just a select few, to be able to develop instrumental relationships with professionals, administration, faculty, industry, and students," said Herd.
