UMBC’s fourth annual Engineers Week will feature a dozen creative, hands-on activities and eye-opening events, February 19–23, to highlight how engineering impacts society and contributes to solving global challenges. The week-long celebration at UMBC coincides with National Engineers Week, which aims to “inspire wonder,” encouraging children to imagine themselves in engineering careers.
This year, collaboration is the core organizing principle behind the week of exploration and discovery. Tau Beta Pi, UMBC’s engineering honors society, has teamed up with engineering organizations on campus to bring students, alumni, corporate partners, faculty, and staff together to celebrate the engineering disciplines.
“Leading this year’s planning has given me a chance to implement what I’ve learned from the past events and collaborate with more groups,” says Beth Wolinski ‘18, chemical engineering, president of Tau Beta Pi. “I am hoping these new events will allow participants to experience the innovation happening throughout our campus. That is really what Engineers Week is about.”
As part of the festivities, the UMBC Racing Team will unveil its 2018 mini Baja race car on Tuesday, February 20, at 6 p.m. on Commons Mainstreet, as a sneak peek ahead of their upcoming competition season The team is known nationwide for its skill in building high-performing, cost-conscious vehicles.
New Engineers Week events this year include a networking session focusing on careers in the defense and aerospace industries, and celebration of diversity in the College of Engineering and Information Technology. Throughout the week, the broader UMBC community will also have opportunities to tour select engineering labs and to watch 3D printing demonstrations. Students are also organizing Let’s Get Techy, an outreach event for local elementary school students to experience engineering through games. The week will conclude with the hotly anticipated Battle of the Engineers, a popular annual competition featuring minute-to-win-it-style challenges.
“Although Engineers Week has been around since 1951, it is only in the last couple decades that we fully realized celebrating engineering innovation is also a great way to engage with the public,” says Keith J. Bowman, dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology. “We want everyone to understand that engineering is done by people inspired to create solutions for our greatest challenges.”
For the full schedule of events, visit the COEIT Dean’s Office website.
Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.
Tags: COEIT
