On May 20, 2016, Rob Naples, Vice President, and Neda Saeedy, Project Engineer, went to Vincent L. Triggs Elementary School to present at their 6th Annual Career Day. Rob and Neda presented to Kindergarten through Fifth Grade students about the daily responsibilities of a Structural Engineer. They brought visual aids specific to engineering such as a calculator, a set of drawings, a hard hat, a ruler, etc. They also stressed the importance of how the core subjects of reading, writing, and math are used in the engineering field, especially the fundamentals learned right there in elementary school.

During each session, Rob asked the group of students, “Who can tell me what an Engineer is or does?” He heard multiple answers like, they build stuff, they make things, they make cars, and (the ever popular) they drive trains. All are true, especially the part about the train, but there was one response that stuck with him. A third grade student said, “Engineers improve Humanity.”

Those three words that came from a third grade student perfectly described why we do what we do. Engineers are critical to our world and the way in which it works. It is a broad field that transcends every industry and touches just about every aspect of day-to-day life. Without engineering, our world would be unrecognizable.  And as is common with engineers, we can't explain to others what we do or why we do it as well as a 3rd Grader just did.

Overall, Career Day was a fun experience. The students were fun, engaging, and showed a lot of excitement. With any luck, they learned a few specifics about what a structural engineer does along the way. Hopefully, Innova will get the chance to talk to more students in the valley.  Until then...

Let’s keep improving humanity.