UW, engineers bring program to RWE

Engineers Week in February, a partnership between the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming Board of Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors, had a record number of engineers bring hands-on projects into several Wyoming third-grade classrooms.

At Ralph Witters Elementary, Town Engineer Anthony Barnett helped students design “mint-mobiles,” named so because mints are used for the wheels. With the project, students learn and explain steps of engineering design, and identify variables and controls.

This year’s program saw an increase of more than 300 participants compared to last year, with 130 engineers and 3,636 students representing 198 third-grade classrooms across Wyoming.

Teddi Freedman, K-14 project coordinator for the College of Engineering and Applied Science at UW, said, “This program continues to have a positive impact on our youth, teachers and working professionals. We are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate and to inspire the next generation of engineers.”

Engineers Week brings professional- and college-level engineers into third-grade classrooms around the state to lead a one-hour hands-on activity. The activities strive to inspire the next generation of engineers through direct discovery and aim to build a stronger sense of community among school children, teachers and professionals working in the field of engineering.