National Engineers Week is was first proclaimed by President Harry S. Truman in February 1951 to honor the USA men and women in all engineering fields. This tradition turned 65 years old in 2016. Wow! Annually, E-Week is celebrated nationwide by 70+ education, professional, government and federal agencies as each US City, County or State has at least a proclamation to support local recognition efforts and engineer of the year awards. Over 50 professional organizations and companies sponsor international outreach programs and national activities too. The awesome thing about E-Week, as it is colloquially known, is that it falls on the week of President George Washington’s birthday (Feb 22nd), because he is considered the first land surveyor of the United States. Who knew?
The Wikipedia page is very vague on details so I recommend you visit DiscoverE’s page for more information on the 65th anniversary plans, sponsors, activity kits and introducing engineering to Girl Day. Most of the resources are free to download which is excellent for teachers and parents! Even the logo is up for grabs. Check out their facebook page as well for news of events and outreach opportunities in your area. Their corporate sponsors welcome shout outs via the hastags they list on their page.
From DiscoverE’s Facebook Page:
It’s officially Engineers Week! Join us we commemorate 65 years of celebrating engineers and engaging students.
Tell the world what you are doing for #eweek2016, #GlobalEngineer Day and #GirlDay2016. Share your activities on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Thank you for all the ways you make a world of difference!
Many capaigns, especially #GirlDay2016 had me very excited since in our culture we tend to marginalize girls and young women interested in STEM. As an “lady engineer”, I was blessed to have strong role models of every gender that encouraged me to aim high and undertake studies, and later, a career in the technical world of mechanical engineering. Smart, strong, resilient and beautiful women can solve problems with math and science just as well or even better than men. It is time we all stopped propagating the myth that engineers are ugly, socially inept and introverted people.
In case you were wondering why this is a thing, it is because engineers are humorous and brilliantly sarcastic comedians that love to make fun of themselves. Some of the most kind, well spoken and talented people I know are engineers, and unlike the meme below, they do accept hugs as tokens of appreciation for all the cool gadgets and tools they invent to further our quality of life and scientific progress. Make sure you ask for permission first if you are in the work place or you’ll face the wrath of HR. 😉 (I’m kidding about the HR part…)
Check out the many enginering professional organizations pages for opportunities to join in on the festivities and bring some E-Week activities to your work area. Engaging those who support STEM fields, be it suppliers or non-technical staff is key to ensuring we all get recognized for our contributions. It is said that engineering and science generate the tools and processes 80% of domestic professionals use to complete everyday tasks. Amazing what we can accomplish with pieces of code, hardware and an international communications network. I am grateful to all those who came before me because they created the technologies I use and improve on today.
Go and build a robot, a rocket, a solar powered car or even design your own experiment. Embrace the scientific method and hypothesize away. The future is ours for the taking, ours to shape. Go out there an explore. Feed your inner engineer; you’d be surprised of what you can achieve when you build something better. 😉
Visit MrsEnginerd’s STEM category on the site menu to find out more about activities, gifts and books that can enhance your E-Week experience and scientific knowledge.
Mrs. Enginerd - Nerd Whisperer 