UD’s E-Week Offers Unique Programs

The College of Engineering recently celebrated National Engineers Week, which marked its 55th anniversary in 2006.  E-Week at the University of Delaware offered the traditional Order of the Engineer Ring Ceremony, panel discussions, networking opportunities, and senior design presentations, as well as engineering-oriented entertainment through a K’NEX® building competition, an engineering quizzo night, and an engineering broom hockey tournament.

But while National E-Week of 2006 still contains many of the same elements as the inaugural events throughout the country more than a half-century ago, the UD version this year reflected the needs and interests of students preparing for careers in the twenty-first century.  In addition to the traditional and the entertaining, the schedule included the practical:  an etiquette lunch, a talk on ethics, and a “dress for success” workshop.

“These events were sold out,” said Deirdre Smith, development director for the College and a civil engineering alumna of UD.  “The students who helped with E-Week planning had the ideas for these programs, and the high attendance tells us that the topics struck a chord with participants.”

“Today’s students are looking not only for resources like technology and job fairs to inform them about where the opportunities are,” she continues, “but also for ways to obtain the non-technical skills they need to succeed in the workplace.  We wanted E-Week here to celebrate the engineer not just as an engineer but as a whole person.”

The Business Etiquette Luncheon, co-sponsored by UD Career Services and the UD Chapter of the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (UDFSAE), introduced engineering students to the written and unwritten rules of dining in a professional or meeting situation.

“I felt the etiquette luncheon was a perfect fit for E-Week because this kind of real-world knowledge supplements the engineering know-how students learn here in the classroom,” said Joe Siclari, President of UDFSAE.  “Knowledge of manners, etiquette, and culture is just another tool engineering students can use in the pursuit of success.”

“The event was a tremendous success,” Siclari continued.  “We limited attendance to 50 people because of space limitations at the Blue and Gold Club, and all 50 spaces were taken, with many turned away after tickets had been dispersed.  Joyce Henderson of UD Career Services prepared a wonderful presentation for those in attendance, and much thanks goes to her for the event’s success.”

The ethics speaker was Dr. Caroline Whitbeck, Elmer G. Beamer-Hubert H. Schneider Professor in Ethics at Case Western Reserve University and the author of Ethics in Engineering Practice and Research.  “We were delighted to have a speaker of her reputation join us for E-Week,” said Dean Eric Kaler.  “Dr. Whitbeck is known for her pragmatic approach to ethics in engineering and the scientific professions, and she gave our students a valuable perspective on this topic.”  Whitbeck’s talk was sponsored by Sigma Phi Delta.

Sponsored by the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), the Dress for Success Workshop was aimed at defining the contemporary meaning of dressing for success within an engineering environment in the face of proliferating new dress codes and constructs in many professional areas.

In addition to these three unusual career-oriented offerings, Assistant Dean Michael Vaughan points to the value in such activities as the Diversity in Engineering Workshop, which was sponsored by the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), and the Women in Engineering (WIE) Mentoring Program reception, sponsored by the College of Engineering and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE).

“The workshop enabled our students to explore diversity perspectives within the context of the engineering workforce,” Vaughan says, “while the mentor reception provided them with an opportunity to interact with women engineering professionals, faculty members, and graduate students.”

During the WIE mentor reception, Sue McNeil, Professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, and several students shared their mentoring and internship experiences with attendees.

“Sue is a great role model for young women in engineering,” said Pam Cook, Associate Dean for Women in Engineering.  “She is an established faculty member who has achieved a high level of success herself and one who has also mentored and advised a large number of female students during her career.”

“There is a lot of tradition associated with E-Week,” said Vaughan, “and we are proud to be part of that tradition.  But we are also aware that our students are entering a very different workplace from that of a generation ago, and we are trying to ensure that the activities of E-week help to prepare them for that.”

by Diane Kukich