FULLERTON : Eggsemplary Engineering Skills Shown

Cal State Fullerton students walking around the Engineering and Computer Science Building this week do so at their own risk as the school celebrates National Engineers Week.

Floppy disks whizzing through the air, eggs being tossed from a sixth-floor balcony and milk cartons zipping around campus are de rigueur for the annual event, which both honors and pokes fun at engineers and their field.

In Tuesday’s egg toss, students were allowed to use newspapers, tape and plastic foam to create a device to cushion the egg--without scrambling its contents--when it hit the ground.

Hilton Yee, a senior civil engineering student, built the winning contraption. Yee cradled the egg in newspaper, placed it inside a tube of Styrofoam cups and mounted the tube to a thick base of newspaper.

The design allowed the egg to descend slowly down the tube after it hit the ground, thereby diminishing the force of impact.

Students also participated in an obstacle course, in which they carried water balloons on racquetball rackets while walking inside a huge paper tube, and a road warrior race, in which vehicles were made from milk cartons.

The 12 events are sponsored by clubs in the engineering school’s interclub council. According to Assistant Dean Charlene Mathe, National Engineers Week focuses attention on the contributions of engineers and increases a sense of community among students.

“The events play off of a technical theme in a spirit of celebration which everyone can participate in,” Mathe said.

Engineering students are not above poking fun at themselves, Mathe said. That’s evident in an event scheduled for today. The Pageant of Nerds will feature students dressing as caricatures of the stereotypical engineer and answering questions in character.

Also scheduled for today is an electric motor competition. Using only magnets and wire, students will build electric motors. The winning motor will be the one that achieves the most revolutions per minute.

On Friday, high school students are invited to campus from 1 to 3:30 p.m. to visit the engineering department and meet with students and instructors. At 7:30 p.m., an alumni social and panel discussion on entrepreneurship will feature Cal State Fullerton engineering graduates who have started their own businesses.