The engineering department will serve free popcorn and drinks to any Lipscomb students who attend a showing of “Wall-E” Thursday night at 7 p.m. in Ezell 301.
After the movie, there will be a panel discussion with Dr. Lee Camp and Dr. Steve Nordstrom about “engineering gone wrong.” The movie and discussion are just one aspect of this year’s Engineering Week, which is themed “God: The Ultimate Engineer.”
Kirsten Heikkinen, student chair of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, said Engineering Week, or E-week, is a nationwide effort to recognize engineers and their work.
“It really just gets what we do out there, broadcasts what we do and brings interest into the field,” said Heikkinen, a senior double majoring in mechanical engineering and applied math. “A lot of professionals participate, lots of schools, and we also do a lot of things with grade school kids too.”
Heikkinen said the organizers of Lipscomb’s E-week decided to show “Wall-E” in order to facilitate discussion about how to use technology responsibly.
“Technology is a part of all our lives, it’s not just engineers,” she said. “We want to discuss how you should use technology in an ethical manner. ‘Wall-E’ kind of shows how, if you don’t use technology responsibly, it could have a huge effect on how we live. We just want to get that message out there.”
Levi Hobbs, vice chair for Lipscomb’s chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, agreed, saying the movie provides a comical illustration of what happens when people don’t use technology appropriately.
“With our theme about God as the ultimate engineer, it’s really important to show that man, in and of himself, no matter how smart he thinks he is, is not the engineer,” said Hobbs, a senior in computer engineering. “‘Wall-E’ is a really interesting caricature of engineering gone wrong. We’ll bring up a lot of food for thought. It should be a really good night!”
Heikkinen and Hobbs, along with Sean Winters, helped organize Lipscomb’s participation in the weeklong event.
As part of E-week, the department hosted a networking event Tuesday evening in which students from Lipscomb, Vanderbilt and Tennessee Tech met with professionals from about 15 different companies. In addition, the week’s events also include a robot wars demonstration and formal banquet on Friday evening in the Hughes Center.
Hobbs said the robot demonstration, which is scheduled about 30 minutes before the 6 p.m banquet, is designed to win support for a Lipscomb robotics team.
“We’re trying to raise awareness and hopefully spark some interest,” Hobbs said. “You get to watch them blow up and tear each other up. It’s great!”
Heikkinen said the banquet on Friday will feature Dr. Greg Nordstrom, dean of the College of Engineering, who will speak more about E-week’s theme.
“I’ve always seen God as the almighty creationist,” Heikkinen said. “In creating things, you have to engineer them. There’s a lot of problem solving. God is the ultimate one of us. I think it’s a really neat way to think of him.”
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