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Parks College Celebrates Engineering Week

03/05/2019

Saint Louis University's Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology celebrated National Engineers Week (E-Week) with competitions, outreach to girls interested in engineering and “a special Innovation Challenge, from Monday, Feb. 18 through Saturday, Feb. 23.

EWeek Innovation Challenge Winners

The winners of Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology's special "Engineering Week" Innovation  Challenge show off their winning cardboard and duct tape bridge. Submitted photo

Students from across SLU’s campus competed in a special Engineers Week Innovation Challenge on Wednesday, Feb. 20, that offered a special prize, for the best design and construction of a cardboard tubing and duct tape bridge that could hold a person for 10 seconds.

The winning team members Jose Acosta, Trevor Akers, Zachary Rogers and Patrick Sullivan, won $1,000 for their design.

The college’s Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day on Thursday, Feb. 21, brought nearly 60 high school students from several area high schools to Parks for lab demonstrations from SLU’s engineering programs, an innovation challenge and a keynote address from Dean Michelle Sabick, Ph.D. Sabick shared stories about her path to engineering, discussed her passion for her work, the challenges she has overcome and encouraged the students to pursue careers in STEM fields.

Current engineering students from the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) volunteered at the event as lab guides. Engineering students and faculty shared their experiences as engineers with the visiting students during lunch.

E-Week kicked off with free breakfast where students, faculty and staff had “Donuts with the Dean,” which featured a variety of treats and coffee from Vincent Van Doughnut. The week’s festivities also included “Freebie Friday” with t-shirt giveaways to students, faculty and staff, and a career expo.

E-Week concluded with faculty and students’ attendance a STEM Day at Hazelwood Central High School to demonstrate engineering projects and talk with students about the industry, and the Ninth Annual Billiken BEAMS (Building Engineering Awareness in Metro St. Louis) on-campus competition on Saturday, Feb. 23.

Beginning in November, high school students formed small groups to design and build a bridge out of balsa wood, following certain design specifications.  During E-Week, the teams competed against other groups throughout the St. Louis area, testing their bridges in categories such as load bearing ability and aesthetics.

Twenty-seven teams competed in head-to-head style competition, and two of those groups built bridges that supported more than 70 pounds before breaking. After the bracket-style competition concluded, the team with the most efficient bridge was declared the winner. This year’s competition included a new component of trivia questions between each round.  Students participating in the competition also toured the new Structural Engineering Lab in Oliver Hall.

Billiken BEAMS Winners