FAQs

What is Engineers Day?

Engineers Day, or E-day, is a celebration of everything engineering has to offer. From building bridges to discovering new medications to writing the software that powers our cell phones, engineers and computer scientists do the things that make our 21st-century world work.

This year’s E-day celebration at the University of Kentucky in Lexington is on Saturday, Feb. 23, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. EST and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. CST in Paducah. E-day comes at the end of Engineers Week, an annual event sponsored by a coalition of more than 100 professional societies, major corporations and government agencies dedicated to promoting math and science literacy and ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce.

The UK College of Engineering is the highest-ranked engineering program in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and since its founding in 1865 it has produced some of the state’s most accomplished engineering professionals. We want to promote math and the sciences, not only because they are worthy pursuits in themselves, but because they enable us to continue to conduct research that improves the lives of Kentuckians, Americans and people around the world.

UK College of Engineering alumni include military leaders, National Academy of Science members, research pioneers, entrepreneurs, governors and even an astronaut. William T. Young, the inventor of JIF peanut butter, was a graduate.

We will have all kinds of things to do at E-day. The College of Engineering complex will be open that day, so you’ll be able to explore some of our research and computer labs to see what our students do there.

There will also be approximately 35 representatives from government and industry. LexMark, Gray Construction, Kentucky American Water, and the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government  are just a few of them. Please check back at this list for more information in the future.

Yes! More than 20 different student groups at the College of Engineering organize and oversee contests of various forms. Several of our standout contests each year are:

• Edible car contest – exactly as it sounds, build a miniature, functioning car out of food items
• Egg drop contest – design a container for holding an egg that will keep the egg from breaking after dropping it from a height of several stories.

You’ll definitely want to check out our Rube Goldberg contest. One of our most popular events year after year, this contest requires teams or individuals to construct a large and complicated device out of at least 20 simple machines that performs a basic task – blowing up a balloon then popping it, for this year’s contest. This is one of the few events that requires pre-registration, so please check the link below if you or your team wants to participate.

We will continue to add new contests as E-day approaches. Be sure to check our contest list for up-to-the-minute information on all the different contests.

Engineers Day is open to any and all elementary, middle and high school students interested in learning more about the exciting things engineers and computer scientists do. Whether you are a first grader or a high school senior, there will be something to amaze, inform or delight you at the UK College of Engineering. Even grown-ups will find something entertaining.

No. Engineers Day is free and completely open to the public.

There are two parking areas that we recommend for E-day attendees. The best place to park is UK Parking Structure #5, located at 409 South Limestone 40506 (To open the address with Google Maps, please click here.) There is also a lot on Scott Street near campus that will be open, but it may fill up quickly. You can see a map of all E-day parking possibilities by clicking here. For more information about parking on campus, please visit UK Parking and Transportation Services.

For printable maps ands directions to E-day and links to mapping sites such as Google Maps, please click here. For more information about visiting the University of Kentucky in general, please click here.