Tufts School of Engineering will recognize National Engineers Week (E-Week), a national event that celebrates engineering, next week. Events start on Feb. 15 and end on Feb. 22.
Chris Swan, the dean of undergraduate education for the School of Engineering, outlined the goal of the week-long initiative.
“The big goal is really to put an outward-looking face on engineering,” Swan said. “To have others who may be interested in engineering but also those who don’t know anything about engineering, or who know very little about engineering.”
Thomas Coons, chair of the Engineering Student Council (ESC), explained that E-Week is intended for undergraduates, and many events are open to all. The ESC is an organization composed of representatives from various student engineering groups on campus, Coons explained. According to Coons, Swan planned the event in collaboration with the ESC.
“They want to make engineering more approachable for non-engineers," Coons, a senior, said. "That’s a big goal for this E-Week in particular — to have events about design and a couple other events that are targeted specifically at non-engineers so they can come learn what the deal is about.”
The week will begin with a Dean’s Lecture with Norman Fortenberry, the executive director of the American Society for Engineering Education, according to the School of Engineering's E-Week schedule. The festivities really begin, however, on Monday, Feb. 18, with the Kick-Off Carnival, an event containing engineering-inspired carnival games and food.
According to Coons, each student organization designed one carnival game.
In addition, there will be a "Meet Your Major" event on Wednesday, Feb. 20, aimed at first-years, who must declare their major within the engineering school by March 1.
E-Week will also offer events open to the greater community. On Wednesday, Feb. 20, a workshop will introduce prospective Tufts students and their families to the university's engineering community. At another event on Friday, Feb. 22, targeted at younger students, this time for third through fifth graders, undergraduates and younger students will work on hands-on activities that provide a window into the different areas of engineering.
Swan outlined how the E-Week programming could help guide younger students towards engineering.
“Engineering is ... kind of mysterious to both parents and to potential engineering students," Swan explained. “So the earlier the process is, in terms of recognizing what engineers do, the more the individual can think of [themselves] as being an engineer. Putting that earlier in your mind is a way to increase the capacity and the interest of potential college students to pursue engineering.”
Other activities throughout the week include an alumni networking event on Tuesday, Feb. 19; a discussion with professionals in the industry on Wednesday, Feb. 20; a trivia night for graduate students and faculty on Thursday, Feb. 21; and a lunch with Professional in Residence Dylan Wilks, CTO at Orange Photonics, on Friday, Feb. 22.
Swan reiterated the event's emphasis on being open to all students, even those not currently pursuing a major in engineering.
“We really would like to open this to all of the Tufts campus, not just engineers,” Swan said.
E-Week was designed with various groups in mind. The different organizations sponsoring events throughout the week include the Center for STEM Diversity, Society for Women Engineers, Center for Engineering Education and Outreach, Engineering Student Council, Graduate Student Council, Tufts Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering Society and Tufts Design for Social Good.
In planning for the event, Coons explained that getting different perspectives was important.
“Basically everyone involved with engineering at Tufts had some representation, or at least we tried to have some representation,” Coons said.
Coons and Swan both emphasized their hopes for a large turnout, especially for the E-Week Kick-Off Carnival that falls on Presidents' Day, a day without classes.
Josh Stone, an undergraduate student in the School of Engineering, displayed interest in attending the event.
“I’m excited for the food at the carnival and to be with other engineering students," Stone, a sophomore, said.
School of Engineering to celebrate National Engineers Week from Feb. 15 to Feb. 22
