In its celebration of E-Week, Syracuse University’s L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science students want to show that engineers don’t walk around with a calculator strapped to their belt, speaking in equations and technical jargon.

In celebration of National Engineers Week, which began on Wednesday, Feb. 15 and will go until Feb 26, ECS is hosting its own Student Olympics, a series of academic and recreational activities that will continue until Feb. 26, said Kate Pynn, ECS National Engineers Week planning coordinator and director of ECS Support Services.

‘E-Week is an opportunity for ECS students to come out and have that bonding experience with one another and with non-ECS students as well,’ said Eldon Harmon, a graduate student in the School of Information Studies who is volunteering with an E-Week event.

This year, 12 teams of between 10 and 15 students, both ECS and non-ECS, are competing, Pynn said. The winners of the ECS Olympics will be announced Feb. 26 at the E-Super Bowl at Flamingo Lanes in Liverpool.

Karen Davis, director of the ECS Cooperative Education and Year Abroad Programs, said the ultimate objective of the celebration is to bring the ECS community, the SU community and the greater Syracuse community together as part of a celebration and exploration of engineering and computer science innovations.

The professional engineering fraternity Theta Tau kicked off E-Week by sponsoring the ‘Mobile Devices and Security’ lecture given by Daniel Pease, a professor in computer engineering who received a doctorate in electrical engineering in 1981 from SU.

On Thursday, students participated in an ECS-sponsored dodge ball tournament in Archbold/Flanagan gymnasium. On Saturday, ECS hosted ‘Human Bowling on Ice,’ where students used their own bodies to knock over pins, at the Tennity Ice Skating Pavillion and, on Monday, hosted a Sudoku challenge.

Last Sunday was Student Recognition Day, and the Pride Incentive Reception was held at the Syracuse University Sheraton to honor students who received at least a 2.5 GPA last semester, Pynn said.

In continuation of E-Week, there will be a ‘Mario Kart’ video game competition Wednesday night, followed by a doughnut-eating contest on Thursday, among other activities.

This Friday, there will be a mini-career fair for ECS students called ‘Career Connections.’ Pynn said 17 companies are expected to attend.

Davis said the career fair is an opportunity to network with employers for permanent job positions as well as internships. ECS Career Connections fair organizers anticipate participants such as local companies Magna Powertrain, Global 360 and Syracuse Research Corporation, as well as Rochester-based Microwave Data Systems.

‘The Career Connections is our big event,’ Davis said. ‘Last year, we had four companies. This year we have 17, so we’re definitely growing in recognition.’

Two job search workshops will be held at the career fair, as well as business and ethics workshops that deal with how to handle sensitive information and security, Davis said. Workshops will also be held to discuss proper workplace etiquette and to critique resumes.

‘Companies will walk away with a resume book of prospective employees,’ said Davis, adding that at least two employers will be conducting interviews at the fair.

Also, ECS will host Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day on Thursday, when about 36 local members of the Girl Scout Association – some as young as 7 or 8 – will explore engineering in Link Hall from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. while working on science and technology badges, Davis said.

The Junior Girl Scouts will be working on the ‘Making it Matter’ badge, collaborating with several engineering student groups, where they will be exposed to concepts of electrical engineering in the form of polymers and receive hands-on civil engineering experience by designing makeshift structures.

Published on February 20, 2006 at 12:00 pm