Engineering students and the entire Syracuse University community will be able to explore the many aspects of engineering all this week.

National Engineers Week will come to SU with a series of daily activities to be held from Thursday, Feb. 17 to Saturday, Feb. 26.

‘Even though engineering has a big impact on society, with cell phones, computers and other things, engineers are behind the scenes. Events like Engineering Week put a person in front of the profession,’ said Can Isik, senior associate dean for academic and student affairs for L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science.

Isik said she hopes these various events will benefit the engineering school and the whole SU community as well and shed more light on the profession.

Engineers Week’s featured speaker is Guy Nordenson, founder of Guy Nordenson and Associates and a professor of structural engineering at Princeton University. ECS and the School of Architecture are co-sponsoring Nordenson’s lecture, which will be free and open to the public Feb. 23.

Nordenson is the structural engineer for the Freedom Tower, which will be a part of the World Trade Center memorial. Nordenson is also the co-founder of the Structural Engineer’s Association of New York and he organized the association’s inspections of 400 buildings in the restricted World Trade Center area after the attacks.

Engineers Week events will include a career fair, featuring seven or eight engineering companies. It is open to all SU students and will provide opportunities and career options for undecided majors as well. This fair allows students to interact and speak with various professionals in the engineering field and create contacts for the future.

Engineers Week will give students a chance to work and bond together in activities ranging from jeopardy, scavenger hunts and the ECS Olympics. ECS Olympics will include a series of academic, design, bowling, tug-of-war, water bottle vehicles and other events.

‘These activities show engineering and computer science can be fun,’ said Kate Drake, director of Student Support Services and Pride Programs.

All SU students were able to make teams of 10 to 12 students, which must include both men and women. Benefits of the ECS Olympics will be increased comradery and student interaction in the SU community, Drake said.

Proceeds of this event will be donated to St. Jude’s Research Hospital.

Engineers Week 2005 is an opportunity for students, faculty and the Syracuse community to learn more about these careers.

‘Hopefully events like this will show people that engineering and computer science are not the stereotypical boring jobs. With the way technology is today, there will always be a job for an engineer,’ said freshman engineering student Brian Derr.

Published on February 19, 2005 at 12:00 pm