South Dakota Mines Celebrates 47th Annual Engineers Week

February 16, 2024
South Dakota Mines Celebrates 47th Annual Engineers Week
Engineering Week, or E-Week for short, is a weeklong celebration of engineering and will be held from Feb. 20-24. The week includes the Mines Chemistry Magic Show, Engineering and Science Day (seen here), Order of the Engineer induction and MathCounts. 

For 47 years, South Dakota Mines has invited middle school students to campus in February to learn about the fields of science and engineering. The 2024 Engineers Week will be held Feb. 20-24 with free events for the campus community, area students and the general public. See Engineers Week highlights in this video.

Engineers Week was founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers (NPSE) in 1951 and is celebrated the week of Presidents Day in honor of President George Washington, considered the nation's first engineer.

The week starts with the Mines Chemistry Magic Show on Tuesday, Feb. 20, at 6 p.m. as part of STEAM Café. This event will be held in the Beck Ballroom in the Surbeck Center on the university's campus. Students with the university's chapter of the American Chemical Society will present science-based demonstrations. This event is free and open to the public.

On Thursday, Feb. 22, the university will also host nearly 700 middle and high school students for Engineering & Science Day. The day begins with demonstrations by academic departments held across campus and the Mines Chemistry Magic Show from 9 a.m. to noon. Students can also enjoy a lunchtime concert from noon until 1 p.m. in the Music Center and an afternoon talk on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope by Deputy Director of SD Space Grant Consortium Tom Durkin. The NASA presentation will be held from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in the Beck Ballroom and is open to the public.

On Friday, Feb. 23, Engineers Week activities continue with the annual Order of the Engineer induction ceremony for graduating seniors. The Order fosters a spirit of responsibility and pride in the engineering profession. This year's event will take place in the Beck Ballroom in the Surbeck Center on campus starting at 4 p.m.

Finally, on Saturday, Feb. 24, Mines will play host to MathCounts. MathCounts is one of the most successful education partnerships involving volunteers, educators, industry sponsors and students. The contest is for sixth through eighth grade students from western South Dakota schools. MathCounts is sponsored by the South Dakota Engineering Society, Black Hills Chapter.