WALLA WALLA, Wash. – In honor of Engineering Week (E-Week) 2021, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, invites teachers, students, classrooms, and families to participate in a virtual engineering challenge and competition from Feb. 22 through March 5.
Each year the Walla Walla District celebrates E-Week by hosting competitions among area schools to promote curiosity and encourage students to pursue careers in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
This year, due to the pandemic, the Walla Walla District will be hosting a virtual activity in collaboration with teachers in classrooms to offer unique opportunities for students to interact virtually with STEM professionals as they recreate NASA’s engineering challenge of designing a Mars Lander: Seven Minutes of Terror!
The challenge to students is to design and build a lander that will deliver a spacecraft (one 5 oz plastic cup) and astronaut (one standard ping pong ball) safely to the ground from a specified height. The plastic cup needs to remain upright with the ping pong ball inside on and after impact to be considered a successful landing. Students may use any materials to create the lander – while being mindful of the design constraints and competition rules given.
If you have an elementary, middle, or high school student, or a group of students, and are interested in participating, please contact Hillary Smith, 2021 E-Week Coordinator at Hillary.S.Smith@usace.army.mil to receive the E-Week Packet and classroom placement with a Walla Walla District engineer. National Engineering Week is the week of Feb. 22. We will kick-off the activities on that day and allow classes and students to engage through March 5.
Limited spaces available for placement, please reply no later than Friday, Feb. 19.
The Corps of Engineers’ mission is dedicated to serving the Nation. E-Week is one of many opportunities that allows the Walla Walla District to give back to the community and its future. By volunteering in local communities and designing creative ways to engage students in STEM subjects, we help to maintain America’s historical preeminence in the STEM fields. For more information about National Engineers’ Week, go online to www.discovere.org. To learn more about the Corps of Engineers and its mission in the Walla Walla District, go to www.nww.usace.army.mil.