Calling all Engineers – This is Your Week!
The Toll Roads is celebrating National Engineers Week (Feb. 18 – 24) by recognizing the tremendous impact engineers make in our communities. Founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) in 1951, Engineering week aims to ensure a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing understanding of and interest in engineering careers.
But what is engineering?
In simple terms, engineering, at its core, uses scientific and mathematical principles to make things work. With six major branches and hundreds of subcategories under each division, engineering encompasses a wide variety of applications, including designing and improving infrastructure, machinery, vehicles, electronics and more.
Engineering has existed since ancient times, when humans devised inventions like the lever and wheel, built pyramids in Egypt and aqueducts in Italy. It was adopted as a formal academic discipline in the late 18th and early 19th centuries – with academies teaching civil and military engineering.
The earliest civil engineer known by name is Imhotep. As one of the officials of the Pharaoh, Djosèr, he probably designed and supervised the construction of the Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara in Egypt around 2630–2611 BC.
One of the main branches is civil engineering. Civil engineers oversee the design, construction and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage systems, pipelines, structural components of buildings and railways. Without them, we would not have The Toll Roads we have today!
To celebrate Engineers week, the Women’s Transportation Seminar-Orange County (WTS-OC) chapter is hosting its annual Girl’s Engineering Day taking place this Saturday in coordination with Anaheim Union High School District. WTS-OC is an organization dedicated to the professional advancement of women in transportation. This year Juliet Su and Kelsie Anderson, members of The Toll Roads’ engineering team, will participate in the program to help pave the way for a brighter and more diverse future in engineering.
Girls Engineering Day is an interactive mentoring program that offers young girls ages 13-18 an introduction to a wide variety of transportation careers. This year, more than 120 middle and high school students will participate in a fun and informative day introducing them to engineering and engineering-related fields.
Did you know? In 1876, Elizabeth Bragg became the first woman in the United States to receive a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, by the University of California, Berkeley.
To learn more about WTS Girls Engineering day, please visit https://www.wtsorangecounty.org/girls-engineering-day-2023 or contact Anna Luo at (949) 308-6307.
To learn more about NSPE 2024 National Engineers Week, visit: https://www.nspe.org/resources/partners-and-state-societies/engineers-week.
The Toll Roads Blog 