Student Organizations Need Volunteers, Support

By Armen Amirkhanian (MS12)

 

Out in the workforce it can sometimes be hard to remember what life was like back in college – going semester to semester, taking exams and participating in student clubs. This past April, a good number of alumni got to dip their toes back into college life, if only for a bit.The Great Lakes Regional Conference, a two-day event sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and filled with engineering competitions, was hosted at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Some of the competitive events included concrete canoe, steel bridge, surveying, environmental design and others. It was organized by the student chapter of ASCE here on campus, but the alumni played a big role in the success we had in hosting the event.

An event of this magnitude requires excellent coordination and solid teamwork. Alumni ensured the success of the event in many ways. Some alumni asked their companies to sponsor certain events financially. After sponsor letters went out, we were surprised at the response and support we received. It truly demonstrated that the CEE department has a robust and active alumni network.

But even more important than the financial donations were the volunteer hours put in by various alumni. We had a great need for judges and other administrative personnel to ensure a smooth-running competition. We had a tremendous response from alumni when we asked them to volunteer for various events. One of the more thankless jobs we needed volunteers for was that of concrete canoe judge. The rules for the competition are more than 80 pages long, there are 15 technical papers to read through, and no time to rest once the competition starts. We had one amazing alumna who happened to be a participant on the team when she was attending Illinois who volunteered for the job. Having been involved with the concrete canoe team before, she knew what to expect, but she had never judged the competition before. Afterwards, while she said she enjoyed it, she also said she was surprised by just how much work it was.

She wasn’t the only one who stepped up to help out. We had one alumnus who took off four days of work to assist with setting up the buoy course for the concrete canoe races. A group of alumni came into town Friday night to assist with preparing the floor system for the steel bridge competition. We also had numerous alumni who were judges for the steel bridge competition. While not as intense as being a concrete canoe judge, it still requires being on your feet all day on a Saturday when you could be out enjoying the nice weather, relaxing with your family or catching up on work from the previous week.

In addition to the alumni who actively volunteered for the events were the alumni who came back just to cheer on their school. It was a great sight to behold that the Illinois fans outnumbered any other school in attendance. This kind of support did not go unnoticed and was greatly appreciated by all the current students competing.

While the Great Lakes Regional Conference was only a two-day event, activities occur year-round within the department. Concrete canoe and steel bridge teams start the planning phase in the summer. They start writing letters to companies for donations, whether financial or material, and get in contact with alumni for advice and guidance. The Engineers Without Borders student group is always looking for industry mentors to assist with their organization. Other student groups are listed on the department’s website at  cee.illinois.edu/student_organizations.

Even if you weren’t involved with an organization during your time at Illinois, the current groups will still welcome your involvement. You left the University of Illinois with a set of tools in your toolbox. You had the knowledge to use them but no experience. Now that you have years and even decades of experience with those tools, pass on some of that knowledge to the future group of engineers. The students in these groups are already beginning to use their tools and gain experience from their endeavors but still could use guidance. Not only do they learn how to build a concrete canoe or design an efficient bridge, they learn how to work in a team environment and handle unexpected problems that arise. Borrowing a quote from Neil Armstrong taken from his speech “The Engineering Century” given to the National Press Corporation in 2000: “Science is about what is. Engineering is about what can be.” The students in these groups are just beginning to learn what can be, and your support can help them achieve great things.

CEE Ph.D. student Armen Amirkhanian, above right, with his wife, Tiffany.