College Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) hosted their “Get On Board Day” on September 17. This annual event introduces current Mocs, from the CECS department and beyond, to various CECS affiliated student organizations.
“The College of Engineering and Computer Science has very active student organizations. The goal of this event was to introduce these organizations to all of our students and encourage them to join one or more of them. We also had student competition teams who displayed their projects,” said Neslihan Alp, Interim Dean of CECS.
More than 200 students participated in the event this year, which was an increase from last year.
“Students, faculty, and staff were very happy with the turnout of today’s event and look forward to following up with all of those students,” said Alp.
In addition to representatives from student organizations, there were also giveaways, t-shirts, and free food.
“It looked fun,” said junior engineering major Derek Elam. “I could see it from the window during class and I really wanted class to be over early so I could come out and see what was going on.
More than fifteen different student organizations were represented.
“Student organizations had many people who signed up for them during the event today. We look forward to seeing these new students engage more with these organizations and interact with each other,” said Alp.
On display at the event were the concrete canoe, the steel bridge, the IEEE robot, chem-e car, and CompUTC’s arcade cabinet.
“It’s nice to be able to walk through and see the things you may not have access to otherwise. It’s good exposure for some of the amazing things that CECS students create that may usually be squirreled away in a lab somewhere,” said Charles Wheeler, senior electrical engineering major. “Even though I’m an engineering major, I had never seen the steel bridge – I had heard of the competition but never seen it, because it’s usually in a lab somewhere.”
“This is a chance for more undergraduates to see what our senior design projects are, what we’ve accomplished. I think it’s important for students to see what opportunities are available to enhance their education and learning from their peers,” said Kellie Keith, senior electrical engineering major.
CECS held the event on the opposite side of the EMCS building, attracting not only engineering students but students from other disciplines as well.
“These organizations aren’t just for CECS students, so it’s a really great thing to have students from other areas interested. It gets us some visibility on campus from other departments and gives students from other colleges new opportunities,” said Alp.
“We are proud of our student leaders’ work, enthusiasm, and willingness to serve our College. Supporting our students and encouraging new ones to join the student organizations are very crucial for the future of our College. We were very pleased with the turnout of this event today and hope new students learned more about these organizations and can also join,” continued Alp.
