Arnold AFB engineers prepare to ‘amaze’ local students

  • Published
  • By Raquel March
  • AEDC Public Affairs
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  Arnold Air Force Base engineers and personnel are preparing to host local students at the Base and local businesses during National Engineers Week, Feb. 17-23.

The theme of the 2019 Engineers Week is “Engineers: Invent Amazing – Celebrate. Volunteer. Connect.”

To celebrate Engineers Week, local engineering society volunteers will demonstrate their support of helping youth discover engineering through multiple events including a MathCounts competition, a student design competition, an Engineer-for-a-Day program and a banquet.

The MathCounts competition is scheduled for 8 a.m., Feb. 2 at the University of Tennessee Space Institute, or UTSI. Middle school mathletes utilize their skills to answer math questions in “bee-style” contests. The winning team will be recognized at the Engineers Week Banquet and will advance to the state competition.

High school teams will participate in the Student Design Competition at UTSI Feb. 19. Tenth through 12th grade students design, build and compete their designs against other teams. The teams will be given kits with identical materials and will have a designated time to design, build and test.

Prizes will be awarded to the top three scoring teams.

Engineer-for-a-Day is Feb. 20. Engineering-oriented junior and senior high school students will tour AEDC, have lunch and then go with a mentor to observe engineers at work. Some students will stay at AEDC, others will visit companies in the local area.

Coordination is ongoing for the Engineers Week Banquet, scheduled for Feb. 21. More information will be released at a later date.

The Engineers Week activities are sponsored by the Tullahoma Chapter of the Tennessee Society of Professional Engineers, the Highland Rim Chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Tennessee section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals, the Project Management Institute, and the Arnold Association of Professional Societies.

During the week of activities, volunteers have the opportunity to conduct hands-on activities with students, talk to a group of students about engineering, or participate in community engineering events.

Volunteers are invited to assist in the events. To volunteer or for more information, call 931-454-6542.