CH2M HILL's Electronics and Advanced Technology President teamed with his son, also an engineer, on EWeek events at two elementary schools in Portland, Oregon. The two engineers gave a presentation about engineers - who they are, what they do, and what specifically CH2M HILL engineers are doing in Portland and around the world. After the presentation, the students were given toothpicks and marshmallows and tasked with building the strongest and tallest structure.

 

"As part of the presentation, we challenged the kids to come up with one thing (a product, a building... something) where an engineer was not involved," said CH2M HILL's Randy Smith. "Kids came up with things like paper and trucks. In all cases but one, we were able to explain how engineers were involved. One smart girl came up with a spider web as an answer, and we had to admit that she was 'correct,' engineers didn't have anything to do with one of nature's most elegant structures, a spider web."