Engineers Week 2024

By Justin Huang

Student clubs gathered to showcase their projects and skills in a series of contests and events related to their specific disciplines. Engineering clubs earned points at each exhibition and scores were tallied at the end of the week, where the organization with the most points received increased budget funding.

At the helm of organizing this year’s Engineers Week is Joe McCusker, engineering council coordinator and biomedical engineering senior. Working closely with the SEAS and UB’s Student Association, McCusker helps schedule activities, edit and maintain competition rules, and communicate with external participants. Coordinating an event with so many moving parts definitely has its hardships.

“The biggest challenge is just finding people,” McCusker says. “Tracking down some engineering clubs can be a little tough sometimes.”

In addition, this year’s Engineers Week had to be planned around construction in the Student Union happening where the event would usually take place. 

The planning and coordination paved the way for exciting events. For instance, the UB American Institute for Chemical Engineers club presented their liquid nitrogen ice cream exhibition, mixing their chemistry prowess and the fun of a sweet treat. Similarly, UB Biomedical Engineering Society played a life-size operation game, utilizing their surgical instruments while putting a twist on a classic board game. The week culminated with the much-anticipated BattleBots competition, where teams of student engineers designed and fought with machines built and forged solely to destroy their opponent. 

Throughout Engineers Week, students also had professional development opportunities. Representatives from SEAS corporate partners Linde, National Fuel, National Grid, Moog and LaBella spoke with students about their companies, providing valuable industry advice and discussing how to prepare for work opportunities during a panel. Students were able to meet pannelists during the networking session that followed. 

At the end of the week’s events, the Society of Automotive Engineers took home first place with an impressive 331 points, followed by the American Society of Civil Engineers with 203 points and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers with 169 points.

The mission of Engineers Week, as McCusker says, is to “recognize and showcase the hard work that all of our engineering students and clubs put in throughout the year.”