Engineering Students "Exceed the Limits" at 2004 E-Week Celebration

What do pancakes, paper airplanes, resumes and engineering principles have in common?
Answer: the 2004 Engineering Week Celebration!

Engineering Week (E-Week), which took place February 23-28 at The Henry Samueli School of Engineering, brought together engineering students, faculty, industry and the community to celebrate the field of engineering. Every year during this week, engineering students participate in a variety of activities that encourage scholarship, leadership and competition. Spearheaded by the Engineering Student Council (ESC), the theme of this year's E- Week was Engineering: Exceeding the Limits of Today.

At the Opening Ceremony and E-Week Breakfast, engineering faculty enjoyed cooking a morning meal of pancakes for appreciative students. During the Opening Ceremony, Dean Nicolaos Alexopoulos offered words of wisdom to the students and stressed the importance of the engineering profession for its contributions to humankind, the quality of economy and to the job market.

Throughout the week, students participated in such contests as the Rube Goldberg, MacGyver, Coding, Paper Airplane, Popsicle Stick Bridge and Egg Drop competitions. All of these activities engaged students and faculty in friendly competition and inspired new levels of creativity and ingenuity.

In addition to the many competitions, hundreds of students participated in the EngiTECH Career Fair on February 25. The fair provided an opportunity for students and alumni to speak with recruiters from 26 different engineering companies. The students were well-prepared, many of whom took advantage of career workshops hosted by ESC and the UCI Career Center.

In keeping with E-Week's outreach mission, local high school students were invited to participate in E-Week through High School Shadow Day. The students came to UC Irvine on February 26 to shadow current engineering undergraduate students and gain a sneak peak into college life. Martin Rendon, a ninth-grade student at Dominguez High School in Compton, attended High School Shadow Day. Martin plans to become a civil engineer and hopes to "help people" through his profession. When asked why UC Irvine was his first choice university, he replied, "UCI works with communities a lot. It cares about the community."

A highlight of the week was the E-Week Banquet, where students, faculty, alumni and corporate representatives enjoyed an evening of presentations and dinner. E-Week sponsors, Conexant, Unisys and Skyworks, were recognized at the event for their contributions to the success of E-Week. At the end of the evening, one faculty member and six students were honored with Engineering Awards. Students were peer-nominated and demonstrated leadership and involvement both inside and outside of the university. Students nominated professors for the faculty award based on their exceptional dedication to students and commitment to learning. Student of the Year award winners in each department were: Jared Yamaguchi (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering); Zerlene Zapata (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Student); Cookie Jarmon (Chemical Engineering and Materials Science); and Julie Manson (Civil and Environmental Engineering). Associate Professor Michael Green from Electrical Engineering and Computer Science received the Engineering Faculty Member of the Year award. Gene Hsiao, recipient of the Engineering Student of the Year award, offered this advice to prospective leaders, "It's all about following your curiosity, listening to others, and being open-minded."

The week ended with a softball game and barbecue at Gabrielino Field with students, faculty, alumni, family and friends. Overall, E-Week 2004 exceeded the limits of creativity and fun and set an example of engineering excellence, thanks to the efforts of ESC and the engineering student organizations.