Engineering Industry Highlighted in Chicagoland

Students and professionals throughout Chicagoland recently celebrated the engineering profession, with student competitions and an awards banquet recognizing the achievements made in the field of engineering. The event, sponsored by ComEd, also honored Bernard Amadei, PhD., NAE as the 2015 recipient of the Washington Award.

Christopher B. Burke, PhD, PE, D.WRE, Dist.M.ASCE, President of Christopher B. Burke Engineering, Ltd, has served as chairman of the Chicagoland Engineers Week Steering Committee for the last 10 years.

“Engineering week is a great opportunity to introduce students interested in the field to the engineering community,” said Burke. “By coming together as current, past, and future engineers, we are able to not only look back at our accomplishments and contributions but to look forward to where we might go.”
Burke, who has been a UIC Professor of Practice since 2002, has made encouraging students to consider engineering a lifelong goal.

“Civil engineers build the roads, bridges, and airports we rely on every day,” Burke continued. “They create water systems that deliver clean drinking water to our homes. It is crucial that we help to raise the next generation of engineers to ensure our communities continue to see these benefits.”

Honored with this year’s Washington Award was Dr. Bernard Amadei, founder of Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB – USA). EWB-USA was founded in 2002 and is dedicated to providing access to the necessities that we often take for granted, such as clean drinking water, adequate sanitation, reliable passage to local markets and more.

The celebration also incorporated a range of competitions, discussions and expos. The following students placed in their competitions and had the opportunity to attend the awards banquet.

In the “Future City” competition, St. Paul of the Cross in Park Ridge took home first place with Immaculate Conception School in Chicago and Urbana Middle School in Urbana winning second and third places. Winners of the essay/poster contest were Naomi Hammad (4th Grade, Palos West Elementery), Emmy Hong and Kaylie Mei (5th Grade, Stem Magnet Academy), Adam Asfour and Yazen Asfour (4th and 5th Grade, Universal School), and Reanna Hammad (7th Grade, Palos South Middle School).

In the FIRST Robotics competition, the following teams won for their accomplishments: FRC Robotics – Winnovation, Winnebago, IL; FRC Robotics – Robots Incorporated, Barrington, IL; and FLL Robotics – RoboPop, Lake Villa, IL.