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Annual carnival draws a throng, and maybe plants some seeds
Semiformal events like the Engineers Week Reception and competitions like the Light Bulb Drop command much of the attention during the Engineers Week celebration at Case Western Reserve. But an event aimed at children may be doing the most to boost the profession.
The 2018 Engineering Challenges Carnival attracted more than 700 people to the Thwing Center Feb. 3. The throng included hundreds of schoolchildren and their parents and more than 200 CWRU student volunteers, who led the kids through engineering games and science challenges.
Me’lani Labat Joseph, who has organized the carnival for six years now, said it was the largest turnout of her tenure and probably the largest in the history of the event. She credited years of networking with area schools and educators and an outpouring of support from engineering clubs and student groups.
“It wouldn’t happen without the student volunteers,” said Labat Joseph, the Director of Engineering at the Leonard Gelfand STEM Center. “The beauty is, they’re doing things that are specific to their interests,” like demonstrating how to launch a rocket or design a bridge.
The children, meanwhile, learn there is more to STEM than solving math equations and memorizing formulas. There’s invention, wonder and imagination.
“The goal really is to just provide a day of fun learning around STEM,” said Labat Joseph, who noted that the carnival has become the largest public event of the Case School of Engineering. “It’s an exposure experience. Hopefully these young kids can see themselves in our students.”
She said early exposure to math and science principles helped propel her toward a mechanical engineering degree from MIT.
“I absolutely believe that these early experiences matter,” she said. “Many of these kids come every year now. I have parents tell me, ‘We’ve been coming to the carnival for three years!’ I don’t know if they’ll become engineers. But I think in the long run it will be in their brain that they had a really positive experience around STEM at Case Western Reserve.”
