EWeek Elicits Fun in Engineers

Fadi KurdahiMarch 2, 2017 - EWeek 2017 started Tuesday morning with professors flipping pancakes, and it ended Saturday with professors and students shooting basketballs. In between, there was singing and dancing, networking and mentoring, playing and competing, all in an effort to bring people together and celebrate engineering students, faculty and professionals.

National Engineers Week is an annual event aimed at increasing public awareness and appreciation for the engineering profession. The Samueli School’s celebration was organized by its Engineering Student Council (ESC) with an “Engineers Dream Big” theme.

The Dean’s Pancake Breakfast served about 600 Anteater Engineers. Students came out for food, the kickoff fair and a lineup of competitions hosted by engineering student organizations. The activities included balloon-powered plastic bottle cars, water-propelled bottle rockets, engineering trivia, marshmallow catapults, a homemade marble run and an inflatable obstacle-course bounce house. Students also participated in making a lip dub, with Dean Gregory Washington making an appearance. 

Around 400 students attended Wednesday’s career fair, EngiTECH, held in the student center, where students talked to representatives from 21 companies about internships and job opportunities.

Kimberly Cervantes, a third-year student in civil engineering, went to EngiTECH looking for a summer internship. She had been applying for positions online, so this was her first opportunity to apply face to face. She talked with seven companies, and said it felt a little awkward at first but then that it went pretty well. Her advice to others is “be prepared.” She had spent the night before researching companies and learning about what they do, so she knew exactly whom she wanted to meet.

Thursday featured two mentoring events. Shadow Day drew nearly 200 middle and high school students from Orange County schools, the Gear UP 4 LA program, and School of Engineering and Science in Sacramento.  Anteater Engineers gave tours of the campus and the engineering school, and led the youth in a couple of projects. The young students visited RapidTeh; the Design, Build, Fly program; the nuclear reactor facility; and Calit2’s Microscopy and Visualization Labs. The high schoolers attended a mock lecture delivered by Bernard Choi, associate professor in biomedical engineering, and Phu Nguyen, assistant adjunct professor in civil and environmental engineering.

Ammon Stark from San Clemente High School thought the tours were “really cool” and was interested to learn how the nuclear reactor worked. He also liked RapidTech. “It was so versatile; you could do so much in it.”

New this year: Introduce a Girl to Engineering, which involved Anteater Engineers serving as mentors and role models for young girls, aged 9 to 15.  Fifteen young girls and their parents participated in the event at which they heard Professor Michelle Khine explain how she employed a childhood toy in her work in biomedical engineering. The girls made tin foil boats using the engineering design process and competed to determine which boat could hold the most pennies and still float.

ESC president, Maaikee Kiyoe Pronda said there were many highlights throughout the week, but she was particularly proud to see EWeek featured on UC Irvine’s social media. “It's a chance for our students to show a different side of them that breaks the stereotype of what people think engineers do.”

Another highlight was the EWeek BBQ on Thursday. “We ran out of burgers and had a record amount (1,100) of students come out to enjoy the free food and the free giveaways! It was a great showing of our fantastic engineering community,” Pronda said.

The Engineering Awards Banquet on Friday in the Student Center recognized outstanding students and faculty (see below). The week wrapped up Saturday with faculty sports day at Gabrielino fields, where the faculty beat students at basketball, three games in a row.

Awards Banquet Honorees

BME - Faculty Bernard Choi, Grad Student Rachel June Smith, Undergraduate Maaikee Kiyoe Pronda

CEE – Faculty Farzin Zareian, Grad Student Elias Massoud, Undergraduate Cristen Alvarez

ChEMS - Faculty Farghalli Mohamed, Grad Student Edward Kyle Jenner, Undergraduate Melissa Diaz

EECS - Faculty Syed Jafar, Grad Student Kasra Moazzemi, Undergraduate Linda Banh

MAE – Faculty David Reinkensmeyer, Grad Student Daniel Jaimes, Undergraduate Hugo Mendoza

- Lori Brandt