E-Week at UCLA

Engineers Week has been a long tradition at UCLA. This year’s 35^th annual E-week featured a variety of activities which took place during the day time as well as evenings. Below was the schedule for the week starting Monday, April 5 through Friday, April 9:

Monday: Free Ice Cream and E-Week Idol

Tuesday: Kids Day and Dinner with Your Future

Wednesday: Book Sale and Club Showcases

Thursday: Book Sale, Club Showcases, and Free Candy for Engineering Shirts

Friday: BBQ

Engineers Week was established to celebrate engineering and increase awareness of engineers on the UCLA campus. Traditionally, the Engineering Society of UCLA (ESUC) works with the engineering student groups on campus to organize the event. The Society of Women Engineers was one of the 16 clubs which helped put on the event. In addition to writing an article for the newsletter, we participated in a variety of activities throughout the week, including Kids Day, Dinner with Your Future, and club showcases on Wednesday and Thursday. Many SWE officers and members also joined in on the other fun activities.

People lined up for free ice cream in the Court of Sciences on Monday to kick off the week. That evening, our president, Tiffany Tsao, and EWI Co-chair, Linda Wong, entertained an audience at E-Week Idol with their MC act, where contestants performed a variety of talents.

On Tuesday, over three hundred 5^th and 6^th grade students from the UCLA lab school joined the engineering students in Wilson Plaza for fun science experiments with the engineering groups. SWE prepared a polymer activity for the kids, which involved mixing glue and boric acid to produce silly putty. The event turned out very successful because the kids were excited about the idea of making things on their own. This activity was very popular in SWE’s past outreach events, and will continue to be a favorite among the kids interested in science. Other clubs such as ASCE and SOLES also prepared activities like concrete bowling and an egg-drop experiment, which the kids had a chance to perform during their rotations. Hopefully the clubs that participated on this day played a role in shaping future scientists and engineers.

Wednesday and Thursday featured numerous engineering club showcases in the Court of Sciences along with a book sale by ESUC. Current and future SWE officers volunteered to table and represent our organization, providing other students with information about our club. We also laid out flyers, newsletters, and posters to let the general public know about the events and activities that SWE hosts throughout the year. On Thursday, people who wore engineering shirts (including the SWE officers tabling on that day) also received free candy bars courtesy of the Engineering Society. The festivities continued on Friday with a BBQ sale in the Court of Sciences.

Overall, SWE was very exited about participating in E-week, and will continue to promote engineering, especially women in engineering, among the students here at UCLA.

Tina Zhou
Internal Vice President