KNOXVILLE – This Thursday, Oct. 28, the College of Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will host Engineers Day. Each October, undergraduate engineering classes are dismissed for one day to allow university students and faculty to spend time interacting with hundreds of potential engineering students from high schools across the region. Engineers Day has been a UT College of Engineering tradition for nearly 100 years.
Last year, nearly 900 students from more than 40 high schools traveled to UT Knoxville to learn about a career field that is not only high-paying but in high demand.
Engineering is behind almost every facet of daily life, from developing the clothes we wear to the cars we drive.
Engineers Day features three high-energy and visually stimulating competitions for visiting students:
Balsa Wood Bridge Competition at 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Science and Engineering Research Facility (SERF), in which teams will construct bridges and test them for structural efficiency.
Egg Drop Competition at 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the SERF Lobby, in which students will design a device to protect a large grade-A egg from breaking when dropped.
Quiz Bowl at 10:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. to 2 p.m. in 307 SERF, in which teams will complete in a 30-minute written examination with the high scorers advancing to a semifinal round and then a final round, where the two top teams will go head-to-head in the Quiz Bowl Championship.
The keynote speaker is the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s Kristin Qualls, director of the state’s most expensive state road project, SmartFIX40. Qualls, who is a graduate of the UT College of Engineering, is working on the State Route 66 in Sevier County and also will be directing the upcoming Henley Bridge Rehabilitation.
Speaking at 10 a.m. in the Cox Auditorium in the Alumni Memorial Building, Qualls will offer a unique perspective about the strides women are making in the field of engineering.
For more information on Engineers Day, visit http://www.engr.utk.edu/ed/.
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C O N T A C T:
Kim Cowart (865-974-0533, kcowart@utk.edu)
Whitney Holmes (865-974-5460, wholmes7@utk.edu)