Home Sweet Anderson
Home Sweet Anderson
Every week is engineering week for me, but last week was particularly special because the school celebrated engineering every single day. As a sophomore, I’m starting to become good friends with the people in my major, but I had a blast bonding with engineers in other majors through a bunch of different events. There was some healthy competition and lots of good food, so I was a happy camper. I went to many of the events, but there was also a career fair, “life after graduation” lecture and a "pie the professor" event that I could not go to. Overall, it was a good week. Go ‘bos!
Sunday – Engineering Week Kickoff
Dean Abriola gave a brief talk about the history of the engineering school. This year is the 100th anniversary, so it is a big year. We’ve come a long way from just a 3 year civil degree! Prof. Ben Hescott, one of the most popular professors in the computer science department, talked about the greatest research achievements in each major. Overall, I am very proud to be part of the engineering school. PLUS, there were Frozen Hoagies and sushi. Frozen Hoagies is a food truck that just opened a storefront on the outskirts of Tufts’ campus, even closer than Davis Square. Their ice cream sandwiches are AMAZING. Ice cream and sushi didn’t quite go together, but it all tasted good anyway.
Tuesday – Trivia Night
The trivia was focused on engineering questions from every major, and a few random Tufts fun facts. Things got pretty heated, but my team won! We got gift certificates to Chipotle and a slew of raffle tickets.
Wednesday – Projects Day
People showed off their class projects in the campus center, library and Anderson Hall, the home of Civil, Mechanical and Environmental Engineering. I submitted my Computer Aided Design project of a firework show, and there were also bridge designs and senior design projects.
Thursday – Date an Engineer
An old fashioned (and hilarious) game show organized by the Society of Women Engineers. It is basically a speedy version of The Bachelor/The Bachelorette where one person asks a question and has to eliminate contestants until one is left. They even present a rose at the end.
Friday – Raffle drawing and the Anderson Brick
All week each participant at the events could get points for their major. The prize is the Anderson Brick. It is a brick they take off of the main engineering building: sort of like playing a very slow version of Jenga. Unfortunately for me, the biomedical engineers won but I am certainly mobilizing the MechE’s next year to pull an upset. As one of the biggest departments in the School of Engineering, we should have done significantly better. In the raffle, I won a Tufts water bottle and a Frozen Hoagies gift certificate so overall it was a good day!
Saturday – Kid’s Day
Over 100 kids visited Tufts and rotated through fun engineering projects. I helped at the Engineers without Borders lesson. We talked about the importance of clean water then had them filter water filled with tea, corn syrup and rice. They were 3rd-5th graders with a really intuitive sense of physics. I was very impressed by their designs and their knowledge of the engineering design process. Other groups also held lessons, where the kids played with robotics, built lego towers and made gooyuck. I’m confident in our youth as future engineers.