BB2C Events: Discover Engineering Day!
Thirty-seven high school students interested in engineering got the chance to network with over 20 local engineers from a variety of local employers last Thursday during the 2nd annual Discover Engineering Day! WSCC was the host for the day, which allowed students to travel to different classrooms to complete five different hands-on activities and challenges set up by participating engineers. The day ended with a luncheon set up in the automotive bay which allowed for students to talk to and ask questions of the visiting engineers.
Participating students were from Warren, Belpre, Caldwell, Wood County Christian, Frontier, Wolf Creek, and Marietta. When asked what they learned, Rawlin Barber from Belpre stated, "Everything with the different fields of engineering, how they relate and the different opportunities that are there for each degree. I knew that I wanted mechanical engineering, but I am also thinking about electrical engineering." Oscar Hampton from Marietta learned "that there are many more opportunities with an engineering degree than you may think." Burgess & Niple presented a challenge to the students for their activity, and the only team to solve the challenge was equal parts male and female. Five companies coordinated the hands-on activities: Washington Electric Cooperative, Burgess & Niple Inc., Washington State Community College, Chemours, and DWL Designs.
The local engineers were just as enthusiastic about the day as the students. Along with the previously mentioned companies ODOT, Ohio Valley University, Thermo Fisher, SimEx/PlyGem, Marietta College, Waterman Douglass & Associates, Power Systems Engineering and WCEO all participated in the networking lunch, along with John Smith and John Tansey, both retired. John Tansey now teaches at the Washington County Career Center and really wants to share his experiences with young folks that are trying to make career decisions. He arrived a bit early, so he spent that time chit-chatting with high school student, Jacob Stevens, about the industry. John had this to say about the day, "Discover Engineering Day has provided an excellent bridge between information they are learning in high school and what they could be doing with local companies in the engineering and tech fields. I recommend attendance to anyone interested in any science related fields to get a true picture of what is out there."
Discover Engineering Day is another example of how we Inform. Connect. Provide. This event would not be possible without the support of local businesses, and we would like to thank those that sponsored the event: Washington Electric Cooperative, Burgess & Niple, and Waterman Douglass & Associates. I would also like to thank Tonya Davis, our BB2C Coordinator, for all of the time and effort that she put into this event to make it happen!! Look for more Discover Days in the future....
Click to read more about the day: http://www.mariettatimes.com/news/2018/02/engineering-basics/