BY TARA MADDEN
Public Relations Coordinator
Join the celebrations of our Proud Past: Confident Future during National
Engineering & Geoscience Week, Feb. 25 to March 6 – a thematic tie-in
to the APEGGA Annual Conference and Alberta’s Centennial year.
An annual event, National Engineering & Geoscience Week is designed to
increase public awareness about the important role that engineers, geologists
and geophysicists play in the everyday lives of Canadians. Across the province,
APEGGA is sponsoring events and activities to showcase the impressive work engineers
and geoscientists do on a daily basis.
For the 10th consecutive year, APEGGA is publishing a newspaper supplement
in the Edmonton Journal and the Calgary Herald on Feb. 24. This feature sets
out to recognize the pivotal role of engineers, geologists and geophysicists
in our economic and social well-being, while celebrating our proud past and encouraging
a confident future.
The week kicks off Feb. 25 by being officially proclaimed in communities throughout
Alberta. Displays, corporate challenges and other activities will also take place
to celebrate the start of National Engineering & Geoscience Week.
The Corporate Food Structure Challenge captures the spirit of our work and
professions. Members, companies and other organizations are challenged to design
and build a food structure for the charity of their choice. This is a fun challenge
that requires team effort, communication, creativity, imagination, building,
resourcefulness and heart.
Other events taking place around Alberta include classroom visits by professionals
and mall science exhibits. Other organizations are also planning activities in
celebration of the week. Fluor Canada in Calgary, for example, will host a luncheon
for its engineers. Fluor engineers will also make science presentations at Calgary
schools during the week. See related story, Page 6.
Pi On Ya
Engineering students at the University of Alberta will again raise money for
a worthy cause through the Pi Throw. As well, the Electrical and Computer Engineering
Department will host an open house with a number of activities.
The March 1 open house will include computer engineering program displays
and lab tours; engineering physics program displays, nanofabrication facility
tours, electrical engineering program displays and lab tours, and engineering
student projects such as the Autonomous Robotic Vehicle Project and the Autonomous
Aerial Robotics Group.
Students are also holding a National Engineering & Geoscience Week banquet
on March 3 for alumni, professionals, sponsors, faculty and students.
If your company or organization plans an event during this special week, please
contact APEGGA to have it added to the events list on the APEGGA website and
in the newspaper supplement published in the Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald.
Celebrations with Students
During the week, APEGGA will sponsor the Provincial School Challenge. This event
encourages students across Alberta to think creatively and use learned math and
science concepts to solve problems.
This year’s challenge for students in Grades 1-6 is to make the strongest
and lightest chair possible using newspapers. Students in Grades 7-12 face the
challenge of building a vehicle powered solely by the energy of a standard-sized
mousetrap.
Each winning team will receive a cash prize for its school.
Students will also experiment, create and race against each other and the
clock to win gold in this year’s science olympics, being held in several
Alberta communities. These olympics aren’t about physical strength and
stamina – they’re about problem-solving skills and cooperation, as
teams pit their knowledge and skills against each other.
APEGGA sponsors the science olympics to promote excellence and innovation
in science learning for elementary, junior and senior high school students. Science
olympics is a fun-filled and stimulating event. Pre-registered student teams
discover first-hand the connection between classroom concepts and their practical,
everyday applications.
Students will compete in a series of planned and mystery events designed to
test their knowledge of scientific processes, challenge their skills and consider
practical and unconventional solutions to unique problems.
The Calgary APEGGA Science Olympics will take place Feb. 26 in the Big 4 Building
at Stampede Park. Edmonton hosts its science olympics on March 5 at the Shaw
Conference Centre. Science olympics will also be held in Grande Prairie on Feb
26 at Grande Prairie Composite High School.
Would you like to find out more or get involved?
Visit www.apegga.org/NEGW
Or
Contact Heather Frantz in Calgary
tel. 403-262-7714
e-mail hfrantz@apegga.org,
Jeanne Keaschuk in Edmonton
tel. 780-426-3990, 1-800-661-7020
e-mail jkeaschuk@apegga.org
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