Celebrating Engineering

What is engineering? Ask an audience of adults and kids and the responses are varied and many: “Problem solving”, “math application”, “building things”, “programming”, “robotics”, “technology”, to name a few. In celebration of Engineering Week, CGA invited Dr. Ken Berry from UTD and CJ Kanelakos from NASA to give us a realistic idea of what engineering looks like now and what to expect in the future.

Dr. Berry envisions an education where a STEM education is a Performing Art — similar to band, theatre, arts, even sports programs. He advocates for engineering students use of professional tools and mimic of what professionals do. To find more about what he means, please click SPORTS OF THE MIND and/or UTD SUMMER CAMPS.

CJ Kanelakos from NASA used her creative and arts passions to help create “legs” for the Robonaut on the International Space Station. She emphasizes the importance of creativity, design and art in the role of the engineer. To learn more about what she means, please click WOMEN IN ENGINEERING.

Dr. Eric Archer and Jason Dixon from Science Entertainment and Design (located in Coppell) also offered hands-on engineering experiences — including robotics and quadcopters. To discover more, please click SED and/or SED STUDENT ENRICHMENT.