ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Albuquerque District participated in several National Engineer Week events across New Mexico and Colorado, Feb. 18-24, 2024. This year’s theme is “Welcome to the Future.”
The focus of the events was to inform students from elementary school through college about the mission of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and encourage them to discover more about Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) disciplines and the various career options in these fields.
In Roswell, N.M., Capt. Romeo Tcheutchua, project engineer at the Cannon Resident Office, and Paul Sanchez, park ranger at Santa Rosa Lake, manned the USACE table at the New Mexico Military Institute. They spoke with more than 40 cadets who came by the table and had very engaging conversations.
Later in the week Keith Winemiller, environmental engineer in the Environmental Engineering Section; Gary Cordova, operations manager at Santa Rosa Lake; and Capt. Tcheutchua met with students at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, N.M., for a one-hour briefing.
Winemiller, Cordova, and Tcheutchua shared their experiences in USACE with the ENMU students. The briefing ended with a question-and-answer session. The briefing was also recorded by the ENMU Career Services to be posted on the school social media for a wider audience.
In central New Mexico, several district employees served at the New Mexico Science Olympiad state finals, at New Mexico Tech in Socorro, N.M. The employees judged the Science Olympiad’s event where middle and high school students designed and flew model airplanes, recording the longest flights.
The district has a long history supporting the Science Olympiad, going back to at least 2013.
According to Reg Bourgeois, chief of the Operations Support Branch and district STEM coordinator, the New Mexico Tech staff would like the district to return for next year’s events as the district helped the event be the success it was.
In southern New Mexico, a separate team visited Tombaugh Elementary School in Las Cruces.
The kindergarten audience asked great and often hilarious questions during the presentation about endangered species, safety, and robotics. The team even answered some questions from the kindergarteners about missiles.
Meanwhile, in southeastern Colorado, Holly Garnett and Trevor Schuller, natural resource specialists at John Martin Reservoir, visited Lamar Middle School, in Lamar, Colo.; Otero College in La Junta, Colo.; and Holly High School, in Holly, Colo., to speak to students about the possibilities of a future career as an engineer, a scientist, and how to pursue some of the many career options within USACE.
Garnett and Schuller interacted with more than 188 middle school and high school students and 47 college students during National Engineer Week.
Garnett and Schuller said that the students also experienced how to navigate USA Jobs and learned about federal resume building and some of the exciting experiences and perks of working for the Corps of Engineers.
And back in Albuquerque, National Engineer Week wasn’t just for students! The Engineering and Construction Division hosted several Lunch and Learns for district employees, Feb. 20-22, 2024.
“All of us take with us the USACE mission every time we talk to others about the work we do here at the district. All of us, either directly or indirectly support USACE’s engineering mission and the STEM careers for our local communities,” said Cecilia Horner, chief, Engineering and Construction Division.
“I know that we currently have lots of new employees in the district; so, in keeping with our Engineers Week theme, the Engineering Branch chiefs would like to present to all of you the work they are responsible for and execute for the Albuquerque District and, in some cases, the South Pacific Division,” said Horner.
The sessions highlighted the Geotechnical and Environmental Engineering Branch, Design Branch, the Hydrology and Hydraulics Branch and the Technical Support Branch.
National Engineers Week is observed the week in February which encompasses George Washington's actual birthday, February 22. President Washington is considered the nation's first engineer, notably for his survey work.
The purpose of National Engineers Week is to call attention to the contributions to society that engineers make and a time for engineers to emphasize the importance of learning math, science, and technical skills.