Astronauts, a flying Drexel Dragon, a swanky banquet…the Drexel University College of Engineering’s 5th Annual Engineers Week held from February 19 to 23, 2007, was nothing short of exciting. The event, sponsored by Arkema Inc. and Lockheed Martin, was held in conjunction with National Engineers Week, a formal coalition of more than 80 engineering, professional, and technical societies and more than 50 corporations and government agencies.

The week kicked off with the 13th Annual Egg Drop Competition, sponsored by Hatfield Quality Meats.  Students, staff, and faculty participated in the contest, in which they created a device that prevents an egg from breaking when dropped from a great height. Some unique device designs included a hot pink stuffed gorilla, a rubber ducky, and a plush Mario the Drexel Dragon. The event reached over 65 media markets. Other events throughout the week included a reunion of Civil Engineers; a dinner hosted by the National Society of Black Engineers with Congressman Chakah Fattah as the keynote speaker; a High School Day for over 350 Philadelphia area high school students and a career fair. On high school day, students were greeted by Drexel’s head basketball coach Brusier Flint and then were treated to exciting lab tours and demonstrations of how to make slime, foam, and liquid nitrogen ice cream. One of the nitrogen ice cream demonstrations was broadcast on KYW-TV (CBS-3) on February 20, 2007. Additionally, a career fair co-hosted with the Steinbright Career Development Center brought together 85 employers and more than 500 students.

Drexel history was made when all three Drexel alumni astronauts returned to campus to participate in a panel discussion hosted by the Graduate Engineering Society. The panel discussion was moderated by Philadelphia news anchor Terry Ruggles and was featured in the Philadelphia Daily News on February 23, 2007 and on WPVI-TV (ABC-6), WCAU-TV (NBC-10), and KYW-AM (1060) broadcasts on February 22 and 23. The story reached over 80 media markets. Also during the week, Materials Science and Engineering Distinguished Professor, Dr. Michel Barsoum, gave the Engineering New Frontiers lecture about his internationally publicized theory of the use of concrete in the Great Pyramids of Giza.

The week-long celebration came to a close with the Engineer of the Year Banquet held at the Rittenhouse Hotel in Philadelphia.  Nearly 400 guests gathered at the hotel to honor Dean Kamen as the Engineer of the Year. As an inventor, Kamen holds more than 440 U.S. and foreign patents, many of them for innovative medical devices that have expanded the frontiers of health care worldwide. Kamen is also the founder of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics, an endeavor that Drexel’s College of Engineering has long supported.  The 2006 Alumni Circle of Distinction and the 2006 College of Engineering faculty and staff award presentations concluded the evening.