This past week, the Opus College of Engineering celebrated Engineers Week for students with a variety of professional and social events.
“E-week is all about supporting engineers and letting them have fun. Most of the engineers I know are constantly busy and stressed, so we want to have E-Week to be a time where all engineers are getting some happiness, whether it’s going to an event or just stopping by to get free food,” Anna LoFaro, a senior in the College of Engineering and president of the MU Engineering Student Council, said in an email.
Some of the events of E-Week featured free food, like “Faculty Flip” where students could enjoy free pancakes cooked for them by faculty and staff from the College of Engineering, or a cup of hot chocolate courtesy of the Engineering Student Council and Engineers Without Borders.
Cake Wars is another popular event of the week. Teams of student engineers decorate cakes while not being allowed to use any store-bought items like knives. Some students will 3D print their own tools to decorate the cakes, while others will use items like tin foil.
“Cake Wars is my favorite event. Dean Ropella came up with the idea for this event in 2022 to let people show off their creative and fun side,” LoFaro said.
The social aspect of E-Week is not limited to edible options, as there were also events like a spikeball tournament, dodgeball tournament and Valentine’s Day craft making.
E-Week also featured several events that helped engineering students improve their professional development skills. On Tuesday, there was a workshop where students could receive personal feedback on their resumes from engineering professionals.
“I think there’s a variety in events because there’s a variety of engineering students,” Ben Hartman, a junior in the College of Engineering and president of Engineers Without Borders said. “There are definitely some students who are very focused or very busy in this part of their lives and want to get the most tangible resume type items and professional help, and E-Week provides that for them.”
Hartman said EWB has helped out with some of this week’s events by handing out hot chocolate at faculty flip and hosting the spikeball tournament.
“Every engineering student organization is involved with [E-Week],” Hartman said. “So every student org will organize their own event and host their own event.”
E-Week ends with a formal evening of food, music and dancing in Turner Hall, known as E-Ball.
“I really liked E-ball last year because it’s kind of like a prom type vibe and I guess I I just like the idea of like a school dance,” Hartman said.
This story was written by Ellie Golko. She can be reached at elizabeth.golko@marquette.edu.
