YSU Celebrating National Engineers Week With Events

It’s National Engineers Week, and Youngstown State University is celebrating with the Engineering Olympics, an industry forum and outreach activities with students from the Youngstown City School District.

National Engineers Week, founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers in 1951, is dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing understanding of and interest in engineering and technology careers.

Teams of YSU engineering students are competing in the Engineering Olympics, with daily events tailored to different fields of engineering, including chemical, civil, electrical, engineering technology, industrial and mechanical. The competitions include challenges such as a drone race; film canister rocket, mini-catapult and K’nex bridge design competitions; and skee-ball risk analysis.

More than 200 YCSD students in grades five through eight will visit the new Frank and Norma Watson Team Center on campus on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday for presentations from YSU’s engineering student competition teams. 

YCSD students will see and hear about the fabrication of the Penguin Baja Racing vehicle, concrete canoes that float, rockets that stand 6 feet tall and fly to 10,000 feet, 3D printed airplanes, combat Battle Bots and more. Students in YSU’s engineering programs will also lead YCSD students in engineering-related events, where they will learn about real-life engineering problems.

As part of the weeklong events, the Annual Order of the Engineer Ring Ceremony will take place at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Williamson College of Business Administration. Also, an industry forum with practicing engineers is scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday. Prior registration is required to attend.

Throughout the week, a food drive is being held to benefit the Rescue Mission of Mahoning Valley. Items can be dropped off outside the dean’s office in Moser Hall.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.