UMaine students to attend Engineering Ambassador Workshop

Eight University of Maine undergraduate engineering students will join peers from eight universities for a three-day Engineering Ambassador Northeast Regional Workshop at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Oct. 8–11.

The Engineering Ambassadors Network (EAN) trains university engineering students in effectively communicating with middle and high school students about the discipline. EAN empowers future leaders in engineering and supports the recruitment of the next generation of scientists.

At the workshop, students will prepare engaging presentations and activities that they will share with students in area schools. Participating students develop their communication and presentation skills, inspire young future engineers and represent UMaine engineering, says Sheila Pendse, a UMaine College of Engineering program development associate. She and Victoria Wingo, a UMaine College of Engineering communication specialist, will both accompany the students.

UMaine students will work in four teams.

Blaine Williams, a third-year electrical engineering technology student from Holden, and Hope Tracy, a second-year chemical engineering student from Belfast, will be on Team 3.

Emma Wilkinson, a third-year electrical engineering technology student from Windsor, and Nicolas Gleason-Boure, a second-year chemical engineering student from Windham, will be on Team 4.

Molly McGinn, a second-year chemical engineering student from West Enfield, and Bradley Denholm, a second-year electrical engineering student from Van Riebeeck Park, South Africa, will be on Team 5.

Fadumo Musse, a second-year chemical engineering student from Bosaso, Somalia and Atticus Dennis, a third-year bioengineering student from Dover Foxcroft, will be on Team 6.

Elizabeth Clark, a senior in chemical engineering from Dover, New Hampshire, is an alumnus of the Engineering Ambassador program and is assisting the teams.

Sara Walton, a lecturer in chemical engineering at UMaine, is the faculty adviser to the university’s Engineering Ambassador student chapter, which began last year. Dr. Walton accompanied Sheila Pendse and seven students last year to Rensselaer Polytech Institute for a similar workshop. EAN program at UMaine began in 2013 as a partnership with Penn State University, funded by a National Science Foundation grant.

Participation in the workshop this year is funded primarily by a Proctor & Gamble Foundation grant. More information about the Engineering Ambassadors Program is online.