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NEWS
| february 19, 2004
Engineering
Committee lines up next week’s
events
The college’s annual activities-filled
week includes the Industry Open House on Wednesday, which doubles
as a job fair for engineering students.
By Brad
Rollins
The Shorthorn Managing Editor
Stephan Wright has been running ragged for weeks to pull together
Engineering Week, the College of Engineering’s annual showcase,
one booth and barbecue grill at a time.
As chair of the Joint Council of Engineering Organizations’
committee for the week, he oversees a team of seven volunteers “working
their asses off” to prepare for the week-long festivities.
Engineering Week begins Monday.
“I don’t have time for class some of the times,”
the electrical engineering graduate student said Wednesday, as time
was running out to pull the events together. “We’re
getting the last of stragglers, and it should be painless from here
on out. But don’t quote me on that.”
Wright’s team is charged with coordinating the dozens of Engineering
Week activities which range from the block party to departmental
displays to a faculty/student tug-of-war. The eclectic itinerary
includes a chili cook-out, a clothes and cans donation drive, the
Balsa Bridge Competition and the Dirty Dozen puzzle competition.
A primary challenge for organizers this year is the Industry Open
House on Wednesday which doubles as a job fair.
“There’s obviously a lot of events and presentations
and demos to show off our best and our brightest,” Wright
said. “But our main focus has been to get people in to talk
about jobs.”
A still-sluggish economy has kept many firms in limbo about their
hiring plans for the immediate future, he said. Working from an
old list of contacts for scores of Metroplex companies, Wright and
other committee members spent weeks signing up employers for Wednesday’s
open house.
“We had two people on there that had been dead for two years,”
he said. “So it’s been tough starting from scratch.
And the economy is still in flux, so some people are reluctant to
come out and participate.”
Nevertheless, Wright said plans are coming together despite the
difficulties.
Lynne Petterson, the administrator serving as the college’s
point-woman for the week, said the range of activities attract participants
from hundreds of high school students to accomplished alumni.
“There’s really something for everyone,” the engineering
associate dean said. “Anybody who wants to come is welcomed.
It’s really a showcase event, and there’s really just
lots to say about what we’re doing here.”
CORRECTION
This article should have referred to the College
of Engineering’s week-long showcase events that started Monday
as Engineers Week.
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Stephan Wright,
Engineering Week organizer, says he’s rushing
to complete the final plans for Engineering Week. |
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