About Us

History of Engineers Week in Chattanooga

Chattanooga area engineers have been celebrating Engineers Week (or E-Week at it is generally termed) since the event was established in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers. It is celebrated throughout the country by some 70 engineering, education, and cultural societies, and more than 50 corporations and government agencies. In 1960 the Chattanooga Engineers Club officially recognized E-week by bestowing the awards of “Engineer of the Year” and “Engineer of the Decade”. These were intended to honer local engineers for their unselfish devotion to public service. Since then, the Club expanded the scope to include “People to People”, “Young Engineer of the Year” and “Technician of the Year” awards. These awards are presented at the annual Awards Banquet that includes a presentation by a prominent speaker on timely topics relevant to the engineering and technical community. Further details about these awards and a list of those who received them can be found here: Award Nomination Forms. This Awards Banquet is conducted during the official week of “E-week” and is preceded earlier in that week by a “Kick-off Luncheon”. Here the program is highlighted by the presentation of a prominent individual on a topic of interest to the technical community.

But E-week for the Chattanooga area is no longer confined to the official week in February when every one else observes it. Over the yeas the Chattanooga Area Engineers Week has grown to include events spanning from October to March.

Some of these activities now include:

  • Manufacturers Day
  • FIRST Lego Robotics Qualifier Competition
  • Mathcounts – Local/Chattanooga Competition
  • Mathcounts – Final State-level Competition
  • Kick-off Luncheon
  • Awards Banquet
  • Science Fair Olympiad
  • Science Fair
  • Engineering day on the Hill

All of these activities have one theme in mind: to raise public awareness about engineering and the contributions that engineers make to society. But most importantly within that context, it is to bring engineering to life for kids, educators, and parents and to emphasize the importance of learning math, science, and technical skills.

E-week Structure

The Chattanooga Area E-week is a collaborative effort among a large number of technical organizations of the region. They provide the manpower and guidance needed to organize and support the various e-week events that are mentioned above. A listing of these organizations is shown at this link: Organizations

The events are organized annually by an E-week committee that is drawn largely from these organizations. A list of the current committee members is shown at this link: Committee