ENGINEERS WEEK 2017 Kira Herzog and Madhuri Bhupathiraju staff writers
Each year, Rutgers recognizes National Engineers Week with a series of events, lectures and panels, all of which culminate with the Cardboard Canoe Races at the end of the week. The Rutgers School of Engineering and the Engineering Governing Council (EGC) have worked together to organize interactive events at the University to encourage and show appreciation for the industry. “E-Week is important to Rutgers because it is a way to raise pride and awareness for what engineers do at RU. Our (School of Engineering) has made some astounding achievements and sharing the pride that we have for own with the whole university is majorly important,” said Priti Kantesaria, a School of Engineering first-year student. With multiple events throughout the week, this year a stamp card system was introduced where students could win certain prizes based
on the number of events attended, Kantesaria said. The festivities began on Monday, Feb. 19 with Spirit Day. Along with creating a fun atmosphere filled with food, music and engineering tables and activities, the organizers hoped to fill the Busch campus with students wearing School of Engineering gear. “We just wanted to provide a quick break that allows students to get away from studying and learn what engineering is really about,” Kantesaria said. Monday’s festivities included the “Rube Goldberg” competition, where students engineered mechanisms, complete with pulleys and levers, that moved a ball from one place to another. Hands-on engineering served as the centerpiece of the week, as students had opportunities to build bridges, aluminum boats, popsicle-stick structures and functional life-sized canoes. Kantesaria was one of the primary organizers of Engineers Week. She said the planning process commenced in late November. See introduction on back
DIMITRI RODRIGUEZ / ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR
February 27, 2017
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U. kicks off Engineers Week with Spirit Day, competition Madhuri Bhupathiraju science editor
On Feb. 20, 2017, Rutgers kicked off celebrations for National Engineers Week with a spirit day in the Busch Student Center. Spirit Day is a day where students can experience different areas of engineering and get involved even if they are not normally inclined, said Priti Kantesaria, a School of Engineering first-year student. Kantesaria is part of the Engineering Governing Council (EGC), one of the two organizations responsible for coordinating the events. While EGC focuses a lot on planning Spirit Day and the signature Cardboard Canoe Races, the School of Engineering is more involved in other events such as the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture series and Young Engineer’s Day. During Spirit Day, multiple engineering societies set up tables where students can learn more about them, and participate in certain activities to get a hands-on feel for engineering. Students from the School of Engineering Honors Program presented a Rutgers-themed Operation game, a project they had been working on during their introductory classes. The Rutgers American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) also had a table up at the event. Kevin Leiton, president of the Rutgers AIAA and a School of Engineering senior, said the organization started four years ago with only seven students. Due to tabling events such as the ones during Engineer’s Week, he said they are able to reach out to a lot more students.
In the Rube Goldberg competition, students engineered mechanisms with levers and pulleys to get a balloon from one place to another. The event took place Monday alongside the first-ever Spirit Day. Madhuri Bhupathiraju / science editor The organization has become pretty big, especially since the formation of the aerospace degree which is a big motivational factor, Leiton said. The degree invites a lot of people who are passionate about aeronautics to come to the school, and Rutgers’ AIAA is the only aerospace club in Rutgers.
“People look into learning new things outside of the classroom because you can always learn the theory in the class but unless you get hands-on experience, you might not know what you’re doing,” he said. The club encourages people, whether new or experienced, to
come join them. Some of the projects presented at the table were built by new members and firstyear students, he said. Other interactive activities included community bridges where people passing by could add a section onto the bridge, as well as aluminum foil boats
and posters for students to talk about their hopes and dreams, and what engineering means to them, Kantesaria said. The day also included two Rube Goldberg competitions. These competitions are named after Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and engineer Rube Goldberg who was known for his cartoons, according to his site. “Rube Goldberg’s are simple machines. So they use simple actions like a block hitting another block and they’ll use things like that to cause a chain reaction that becomes one big machine,” Kantesaria said. “It’s often something overcomplicated, like in order to put a ball into a cup, they might make it 30 steps and make it so elaborate.” Designing these machines is a fun way to use levers and pulleys and systems and use a little bit of engineering knowledge to just create something fun with friends, she said. Niharika Mishra, a School of Engineering sophomore, said that participants were allocated certain materials and were asked to make a system using as much creativity as they wanted. This is the first-year doing Spirit Day for E-week, Mishra said. Previously, they had done NERD (Novel Engineering Regional Design) Olympics, but found that after doing NERD Olympics for so many years, people were getting too used to it. “We wanted to make something new, something fresh and something (with) a little bit less commitment,” Mishra said. “It’s midterms week and a lot of students are studying so this is an easy (event) — come here, get food, do an activity and then you can get back to your day kind of event.”
Students share internship experiences in front of panel of judges Harshel Patel
in the multipurpose room one last time. After the first round, the audience was invited to vote for On Tuesday, Engineers Week who they thought was the best continued with the fourth annual presenter out of the group they “Interns Present” event at the Buswatched. The student with the ch Campus Center. It was hosted most votes was given a “People’s by the Lockheed Martin CorporaChoice Award.” tion and the Phillips 66 company. Following the second round The event was composed of of presentations, the students three main parts, spanning about were scored again and ranked. three and a half hours, including They were then presentations gathered in the from students, multipurpose room and concluded “I hope (the audience) learned you often find yourself in situations that you don’t anticipate, but I think that for a question and with a queslessons have a way of sneaking up on you and you will learn things in places that you don’t expect. answer panel open tion-and-answer Take advantage of opportunities (and) close no doors.” to the audience. session with the Finally, awards presenters. samantha hansen were given out to “Interns PresSchool of Engineering Senior the presenters, ent” is an opportuincluding a “Best nity for students Presenter Award” in the School of “The reason my mentor select- and the “People’s Choice Award.” Engineering to discuss their in- Rutgers graduates and professors discussed her experience as an Through all of the presentaternship experiences in front of in the School of Engineering, in- intern at the National Aeronautics ed me as the internship candidate their peers and judges from the cluding Bob Birkland, an alumnus and Space Administration (NASA) was that he enjoyed the materi- tions, Hansen said she wants the professional industry. Through who is the chief financial officer of Marshall Space Flight Center in als background that I had,” she audience to have gained a sense said. “I had taken classes in me- of confidence, to accept new situthis, students get to learn more a group of companies near Scran- Huntsville, Alabama. “I worked in the optics and im- chanical properties in materials, ations and learn as much as possiabout internship possibilities and ton, Pennsylvania, and Mike DiBreceive advice on how to obtain uono, an alumnus who works for aging department,” she said. “My mechanics of materials, computa- ble from them. “I hope (the audience) learned the Lockheed Martin Corporation. primary responsibility was work- tional solid mechanics and things internships in the future. you often find yourself in situations Presenters came from a large ing on emerging mirror telescope of that nature.” Henrik Pedersen, the associate Following each presentation, that you don’t anticipate, but I think dean for Lifelong Learning and variety of majors and back- technologies, so that included Professional Education, began grounds ranging from electrical mirror testing at space light con- the judges graded each student that lessons have a way of sneaking the evening with a welcome ad- and computer engineering to ditions in a vacuum chamber at and ranked their performances. up on you and you will learn things After a short break, the second in places that you don’t expect,” cryogenic temperatures.” aerospace engineering. dress to the audience. Essentially, Hansen was trust- round of presentations began she said. “Take advantage of opThe students interned at corThe evening began with the first round of presentations, porations across the countr y, ed to work with testing mirrors where four students presented portunities (and) close no doors.” contributing writer
where presenters were split into two groups and presented simultaneously in different locations. A group of six presented in “The Cove,” while a group of seven presented in the multipurpose room. In the first round, presenters discussed their internship experiences, how they got their internships, how they applied and what they learned during their job. Judges were comprised of
such as Tesla, Inc. in California, General Dynamics Electric Boat in Connecticut, United Technologies Corporation in Ohio, Boeing in Illinois, Johnson and Johnson in California, Credit Suisse in New York and the Rutgers Wireless Information Network Laborator y (WINLAB), in North Brunswick. Samantha Hansen, a senior in the School of Engineering,
in conditions similar to those in space. She also performed a study to research the feasibility of manufacturing methods in mirrors, she said. Hansen was selected for her internship because of her educational background at Rutgers. The classes she took here, as well as her background in physics, made her an ideal candidate for her internship, she said.
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February 27, 2017
DeCandia shared examples of how scientific innovation has changed the world and how it presents opportunities for future engineers. He said that AIDS used to be a death sentence but now it is possible for people with AIDS to live full lives. There is now a need for innovation to deliver AIDS treatment across the world. He spoke of a Ford executive who told him that there will be fewer cars due to self-guided vehicles. A two-car family can become a one-car family with a self-guided
car. In anticipation of such developments, Ford recently spent $1 billion on a software company. At Johnson and Johnson, there is now a focus on the personalization of healthcare delivery. Examples include greater innovation in the areas of patient adherence and body monitoring. DeCandia said that the trend is for healthcare providers to be compensated for providing an outcome, not just a service. This means providers increasingly “risk-share” and are becoming invested in patients health. Regarding career advice, he said, “it’s not the big that win, it’s the fast that wins.” He said that innovators do not need as much capital as they needed in the past to succeed. Students should remember their gifts, their responsibility to turn ideas into reality and the importance of humility and being a person of value he said. Engineers are problem-solvers by nature and they must use their gifts to make a difference. DeCandia said the number one issue in doing business with suppliers is whether they are philosophically aligned with Johnson and Johnson. There are three values the company is most interested in: Innovation, sustainability and diversity. Thomas Farris, the dean of the Rutgers School of Engineering, attended the event and introduced DeCandia. “It’s always very gratifying to have our successful alumni come back and talk to our present day students about all the things they can do with a Rutgers engineering degree,” Farris said. Farris said it was very beneficial for students to hear from someone with extensive supply chain experience because it is a growing area for engineering students. The largest employer of Rutgers engineering students this past year was Amazon, which is heavily focused on supply chain operations, Farris said. Thomas Papathomas, a professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, was also in attendance and shared his reaction to DeCandia’s talk. “I was inspired by DeCandia’s talk of how an engineer must strive to do good and to benefit society. I’m impressed he chose to talk about the Johnson and Johnson credo because it shows they take their credo very seriously,” Papathomas said.
Canoe Races. Now, we increased our number of teams... We had 22 last year, it’s now 34 and I think we have 33 teams racing. So we really are increasing exponentially and we really wanted to create an event for parents for students, for alumni, for everyone who wants to come and be involved,” she said. Teams of two have an hour to build a canoe that will float in water. All supplies for building the canoe are provided by the Engineering Governing Council (EGC), Kantesaria said. She said that although building canoes may seem like a simple, fun activity, it is challenging. Students must apply their physics knowledge and apply methods and techniques they learned in class. “The fact we’re able to get students to be involved with their coursework and to interact with that a little more is very important to us here,” she said.
In the spirit of Engineers Week’s theme “Dream Big,” Kantesaria said they worked to make the event bigger and better than year’s past. Instead of “NERD Olympics,” Katesaria said they held a spirit day, where they gave out free stuff, food and students were encouraged to wear Rutgers gear. They also had engineering-themed activities for students to participate in, such as building bridges out of popsicle sticks. “Things like spirit day, in the beginning, are created to gain momentum to get excited for the week, come to all the events and come to canoe races to finish off the week right,” she said. School of Engineering senior and EGC President Christina Parry hopes students can understand engineering more through events like Engineers Week. “Even though engineering is difficult sometimes, we always
Rutgers alumni and Johnson and Johnson’s Chief Procurement Officer, Len DeCandia, shared his career experiences and advice with School of Engineering students. Henry Fowler
Johnson and Johnson officer speaks at U. George Xie contributing writer
On Wednesday afternoon, Johnson and Johnson’s Chief Procurement Officer Len DeCandia spoke at an event for Engineers Week. He shared his career experience and advice for engineering students. DeCandia attended Rutgers as a School of Engineering undergraduate and later as an MBA student. He was also the founder of the Rutgers Business School’s Center for Supply Chain Management. DeCandia was heavily influenced by the space race as a child in the 1960s. He said he was particularly inspired by former President John F. Kennedy’s goal to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade and the eventual realization of that goal in 1969 with the Apollo 11 mission. Upon graduating from college, DeCandia worked for Johnson and Johnson. At the time, he was not very interested in business. He said that all he wanted to do was build machines. Globalization and the advent of the personal computer led to his entrance into more business-related areas. DeCandia said that computers and globalization opened a world of possibilities, and that business is important in identifying unmet needs that can then be solved with engineering. He reminded students that his current job did not exist at his graduation and many of their future jobs may not yet exist. DeCandia told students to enter the workforce with faith that the
Teams struggle to stay afloat in 6th annual canoe race Chloe Dopico ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
The sixth annual canoe races took place Feb. 24, bringing a lot of soaking cardboard and wet students. The event is the cumulative event of Engineers Week, a week-long national celebration of engineering at Rutgers, said firstyear School of Engineering student and Engineers Week chair Priti Kantesaria. The theme of this year’s event is “Dream Big,” she said. “It’s about, you know, doing things bigger, doing things better. So in that theme, we’re doing our sixth annual Cardboard
knowledge and skills they obtain from their education will lead them to success. DeCandia also placed great emphasis on collaboration as an essential piece to innovation. He said that one of the most exciting aspects of his work is bringing collaborators together. In his perspective, Johnson and Johnson has changed from a more insular company to a very collaborative company. He said that 50 percent of their products come from collaboration or licensing.
“I was inspired by DeCandia’s talk of how an engineer must strive to do good and to benefit society.” thomas papathomas Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering
Young Engineer’s Day draws 160 schoolchildren
School of Engineering in those schools that can be feeders for our particular program.” Around 10 different student organizations within the school hosted 14 different activities for the schoolchildren last week, he said. Many of the volunteers’ first exposure to engineering came from Nikhilesh De similar events, Brown said. For correspondent others, participating in “Young More than 160 schoolchildren Engineers Day” was just a way for learned how to build bridges, cre- them to help students learn about ate catapults, develop apps or make different concepts. The activities covered an arglass last week during Rutgers’ anray of different fields within the nual “Young Engineers Day.” The School of Engineering School of Engineering, from crehosted 165 students from nine dif- ating candy glass to bridges to Anferent schools as part of “Young droid applications using the MIT Engineers Day” last Wednesday App Inventor, he said. Other groups built and raced in the Busch Student Center, said small cars or made structures out Assistant Dean Michael Brown. Participants enjoyed a host of of cardboard, he said. “This is just an exciting proactivities while learning about the Rutgers School of Engineer- gram for us. It’s one of the few ing and how to apply engineering times that we really get to connect with the community, to do concepts to practical uses. “‘Young Engineers Day’ is a something that builds interest program that we do just to pro- and outreach that’s separate from vide outreach, understanding of admissions,” Brown said. “We engineering and the School of can strengthen the pipeline and Engineering community for third do something for the students so grade to 12th-grade students,” they feel like they have a personal he said. “Many students haven’t connection with us.” One team built shelters using thought of … what they can do related to engineering. This is an ex- cardboard, string, bamboo sticks posure for a lot of those students.” and garbage bags, said Michelle The day also helps students Mac Pherson, an administrawho are interested in engineer- tive assistant in the School of Engineering’s ing or related Depar tment science, techStudent nology or math “This is just an exciting of Services. fields learn program for us. It’s one “It’s handsmore about Rutgers as a of the few times that we on … (stuschool and really get to connect with dents) are split into teams and connect with the community...” two members current college are blindfoldstudents and michael brown ed. One stuorganizations, Assistant Dean of the School of Engineering dent leads the he said. way and that’s The goal is one aspect of to ensure students learn about the school and (the project),” she said. The event is one of several deits engineering programs while connecting with the students and signed to promote engineering in volunteers who assist the events, general and the school at Rutgers during National Engineer’s Week, he said. “Believe it or not, this was the she said. “This is our largest program. first National Engineers Week program that was done for the This is the most schools we’ve School of Engineering,” Brown ever had come out, it’s the said. “A lot of the other activi- most projects we’ve ever had,” ties are either for students that Brown said. “Honestly I’m ver y are already on campus, some happy with the program this are for the community and they year and after talking to guidcan openly come and support ance counselors and teachers the school, (but) this particular that are here today, they seem activity is to build interest in the ver y satisfied also.”
Thirty-three teams had one hour to engineer a canoe out of cardboard, duct tape and a garbage bag. They then raced across the recreation center pool. ALEXANDRA DEMATOS / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF know how to have fun and really make the most of it, and utilizing our engineering skills and thinking outside the box, building cardboard canoes that can actually swim and float,” she said. Categories students could win in included most creative canoe, the furthest distance a canoe traveled and the most epic sinking, Parry said.
“If you’re a student at the campus and you don’t participate (in E-week), I just hope they have a respect and understanding for what engineering does at Rutgers and how important we are and understand that we’re proud of who we are. (I hope) everyone understands our successes and our accomplishments and I think to have a week out of the year to celebrate that is a pretty low fee,” Kantesaria said.
Students faced off at the Olympic-sized pool at the Werblin Recreation Center, using engineering skills to create canoes that both stayed afloat and moved quickly across the water. This was the 6th year that the competition has taken place. ALEXANDRA DEMATOS / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Lee DeCandia, a Rutgers alumni, spoke about his experiences and career as a chief procurement officer at Johnson and Johnson. HENRY FOWLER
Introduction Engineers Week expanded this year to include new events, more wide-spread participation continued from front
Throughout Engineers Week, students participated in tabling events around campus. Madhuri Bhupathiraju / SCIENCE EDITOR
Children participated in 14 different events, ranging from app development to bridge-building. JEFFREY GOMEZ / PHOTO EDITOR
“E-Week is just another way to celebrate what makes Rutgers who we are. It is a diverse event with a unique focus that is open for anyone to learn about and involve themselves in,” she said. The weeklong celebration took place on a larger scale this year than in previous years, which was evident in many of its components, she said. Organizers expanded the canoe races from 25 to 35 teams, added a number of brand new events and replaced Novel Engineering Regional Design Olympics (NERD) Olympics with School of Engineering Spirit Day. “(E-Week) celebrates the work of engineers at Rutgers and encourages students to do even more in the years to come,” Kantesaria said. “That is, at heart, what Rutgers is all about— appreciating the past but creating a better future.” On Tuesday, “Interns Present” took place, where students had the opportunity to present their internships and compete for prizes, according to the website. Wednesday morning was Young Engineer’s Day, where students from grades 3-12 had the opportunity to do activities with the various engineering societies, Kantesaria said. “This event helps students get acclimated to the ‘E’ in STEM and hopefully encourages students to consider engineering, even at a young age,” she said. In the afternoon, Len DeCandia, the chief procurement officer
Young Engineer’s Day on Wednesday brought together students from 3rd to 12th grade for a series of hands-on engineering activities and projects. JEFFREY GOMEZ / PHOTO EDITOR
of Johnson and Johnson, spoke at the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture. The week finished off with engineering week’s iconic and most anticipated event, the Carboard Canoe Races. Thirty-five teams created innovative, technical and well-designed canoes out of cardboard and duct tape and raced them across the Werblin Recreation Center Olympic Pool, Kantesaria said. “We had families of students, alumni, faculty, deans, students and more in attendance to watch the boats sink or swim. With food, engineering activities and a big poster-making session, there was so much spirit in the audience and the smiles on their faces said it all,” Kantesaria said. “It was a good culmination to a lot of hard work and I was so delighted to have been able to have a part in creating that joy.” With so many festivities planned, a lot of collaborative effort goes into the organization of Rutgers Engineering Week, she said Several committees are formed and organize the events along with EGC and the School of Engineering. “My committee members felt like it was a club they were dedicated to, with weekly meetings, but as chair, I had to put in many hours a week, like Dean Cadena did, often a couple of hours a day to E-Week related work,” Kantesaria said. “So not for the faint-hearted, but massively worth it.”
DeCandia attended the School of Engineering and founded the Business School’s Center for Supply Chain Management. HENRY FOWLER
Antoine Stephan, Dan Hincapie and Joe Spaniol participated in the Rube Goldberg competition Monday. Madhuri Bhupathiraju / SCIENCE EDITOR
The “sink or swim” nature of the Cardboard Canoe Races created an environment of excitement for spectators on the sidelines. The event was proceeded with a variety of new events and attractions this year. DIMITRI RODRIGUEZ / ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR