The Creative Side of Engineering: Artist Awards Ceremony Planned Feb. 7
Contact: Edwin Nagy 581-2071; George Manlove 581-3756
ORONO — The UMaine Engineering Art Club is holding its artist awards ceremony Friday, Feb. 7, to celebrate the artistry and creativity of engineering students, faculty, and other science- and engineering-related artists in the community.
The fourth annual “ART by Engineers” Artist Awards Ceremony is scheduled 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the Engineering and Science Building on the Orono Campus. The exhibit opens Feb. 4 and will be up through Feb. 29.
It features artwork of all types by students, faculty and others from the science and engineering world. Previous years have seen everything from a cardboard chair to precision-machined aluminum mazes. This year, one of the anticipated art creations is a 6-foot pepper grinder fit for the likes of Paul Bunyan.
“Engineering is a creative profession. Every day brings new problems to the designer’s desk, the solutions of which must often be original creations,” says engineering graduate student Edwin Nagy, who co-founded the exhibit and awards ceremony in 2005 with Will Manion, instructor of civil environmental engineering. “Students in engineering and the sciences need to be rewarded for their creative abilities, not just their skills at crunching numbers through formulae.”
ART by Engineers is intended to encourage students in the engineering field to explore their creative sides. The ceremony Feb. 7 will offer refreshments and a cash bar. Winners will be rewarded with cash prizes to recognize their creative efforts.
Several exhibit sponsors will judge entries in various categories. New categories for this year’s show are “Most Daring” and “Sustainable Art: Best Use of Recycled Materials.” Other categories include ‘Environmentally Inspired,” “Use of Whimsy” and “Art by a Woman in Engineering.”
The event is sponsored by the College of Engineering and faculty; University of Maine Foundation; Woodard and Curran, Inc., engineering firm; CDM engineers; PenBay Media; University of Maine Bookstore; SEA Consulting; and the Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology at UMaine.