National Engineers Week Family Day Event Set for 21 February in Washington

By Chris McManes, IEEE-USA

The IEEE, which is serving as lead society for National Engineers Week (EWeek) 2004, invites you to the National Building Museum in Washington for EWeek's "Zoom into Engineering Family Festival" February 21. The event runs from 10 am to 4:30 pm, and admission is free. The Family Festival will kick off EWeek activities in the nation's capital. It brings together multiple societies to provide hands-on engineering activities and expose children and adults to the ways engineers improve our standard of living. Youngsters can build bridges, solve design challenges and create skyscrapers in a LEGO construction zone; cast members from the popular children's television show Zoom will perform a couple of short skits and sign autographs.

Members of the U.S. military will demonstrate the key role engineering plays in our nation's defense, and a FIRST Robotics competition will display children using their brain power. NASA representatives will be on hand to discuss how its engineers successfully landed two rovers on Mars, more than 100 million miles from earth.

IEEE members will be on hand to demonstrate how small electric motors operate and answer questions about careers in engineering and other high-tech professions. Giveaways will include a calendar highlighting the 12 2004 nominees for EWeek's New Faces of Engineering recognition program.

The IEEE helped to launch the first Family Festival when the organization last served as lead society in 1993. This year's event has financial support of the IEEE and international design-build firm BE&K. Two years ago, the festival attracted a National Building Museum record of 5,000 people.