This week engineers across campus are celebrating their field of study through a multitude of events during the College of Engineering’s Engineers Week.
Josey Benandi, a senior in the College of Engineering as well as one of the co-vice presidents of the Engineering Student Council, explained how she helped plan the week, starting at the beginning of the fall semester.
“We started in August and we had a Skype call and threw out a bunch of ideas,” Benandi said. “We started meeting the first week of school, … (and) we just started spitballing the structure of it.”
In the past three years, Engineers Week was only either a dance or half a week of events, however this year is different considering the many events that will be held throughout the week and dance which will be held at the end of the week.
The events range from faculty research forums to scavenger hunts, encompassing a plethora of events for different interests.
The week has themed days, beginning Monday and ending on Saturday with the big dance, also known as E-Ball. Monday is a faculty day, including a faculty research forum, Tuesday is a service-themed day, Wednesday is free day with bingo in the evening, Thursday is a resource day with different campus resources being at E-Hall for the resource fair and Friday is student day, in which the students are celebrated.
“Friday is just so that the students of the college can get out and have fun,” Jenna Klobucar, a junior in the College of Engineering and the other co-vice president of ESC, said. “It’s a battle of the disciplines … All the civil engineers are competing against the mechanical engineers. … There are a bunch of competitions that day … (and) it’s going to be directed toward getting underclassmen to get involved.”
Friday is the day of the “E-lympics” in which there are different options focusing on physical activity like dodgeball, mental activity like trivia and a combination of both like the scavenger hunt in which there is a search for the golden calculator.
Along with the fun events on Friday, there are other popular events that are making a return from last year, such as the Faculty Flip, which is a pancake event in which the faculty members of the College of Engineering will be making and flipping pancakes.
With all the different events going on, the hope is to get people involved — especially the underclassmen. Klobucar said part of the hope is that the week and its events could help underclassmen find a good group of people within a similar major as well as similar interests.
Sarah Ernst, a freshman in the College of Engineering as well as the vice president of the freshman board, explained how helping out with the event and being involved will allow her to spread the word within her dorm and get others involved.
“I’m hoping that a lot of freshmen get involved,” Ernst said. “Our job is to promote all the engineering events that the student council hosts. … I’m making sure everyone on the floors above me know what’s going on.”
Ernst helped plan the week as well, and will be specifically helping out at the research forum on Monday and the Faculty Flip. She is also taking over the college’s Instagram for the week.
Though the week is intended to get people involved, it also has its own purpose within the Marquette community as an established college.
“We like celebrating the fact that we have professionally-driven ideals as well as being creative, … (and) we want it to be fun,” Benandi said.
Engineers Week is a time when the talents of the college and all of the hard work put in throughout the year is emphasized and celebrated.
“It is really to highlight all of the special talents and work that we’re doing throughout the year and every day and taking a moment to recognize the way we work to make Marquette University engineering sustainable and noteworthy within the community,” Klobucar said.
The celebration culminates with the dance Saturday night and is open to all Marquette students, whether they are in the College of Engineering or not.
