April 12, 2024

It’s official — Mizzou Engineers’ Week was named Best Engineers’ Week at the 2024 National Association of Engineering Student Council (NAESC) Engineering Leadership Summit in New Mexico. 

“It’s absolutely amazing to hear that we had been chosen as ‘Best Engineers’ Week’ at the NAESC summit,” said Jimmy Keating, co-president of Engineers’ Club. “We couldn’t be more thankful for the award, and for all of the people who have helped us achieve it.” 

Madi Robinson, co-president of Engineers’ Club, echoed Keating’s excitement about the award and also extended thanks to Steven Borgelt, an associate professor emeritus and Engineers’ Club advisor, and all the other students who helped plan the event. 

Marissa Moore, the vice president of external relations for Mizzou Engineering Student Council (MESC), attended the conference and was one of a group of students there to accept the award. 

“Engineers’ Club did amazing work,” she said. “When they were announcing the award, they said ‘This is a group that has embraced tradition but also made changes.’ We have one of the oldest E-Weeks, dating back 121 years. But this year MESC and Engineers’ Club organized an Alumni Networking Event, and because it was a designated time for a large group of students to meet alumni outside of a career fair setting, it was a key change that set us apart from other universities.” 

Mizzou is unique in that at most other colleges, the student council plans E-Week, according to Moore. At Mizzou, the College of Engineering has a separate student organization, Engineers’ Club, to organize the week of events and make it really special. 

“It’s very exciting for us to win this award,” Moore said. “E-Week went really well, there were a lot of new things happening and they all were very engaging. MESC is grateful we have Engineers’ Club to plan this celebration. It is exciting to see something that is so impactful for our college being recognized nationally.” 

Seven students from Mizzou travelled to New Mexico for the summit, which included a career fair, industry tours, workshops and other activities.  

“We went on tours, met some really interesting speakers, there was a mariachi band at the conference,” Moore said. “It was a great time. It was also an empowering experience. The organizers did a really good job. One of the tours was to Spaceport America where students met the CEO of Spaceport, who was one of the conference’s keynote speakers. I also took a tour of the New Mexico State University’s campus labs, where I got to meet a goat and hold a tarantula. It was a fantastic experience.” 

For Conor McLaughlin, a junior in IT, this year was his first NAESC conference.  

“The Engineering Leadership Summit opened my horizons by encouraging me to engage with some of the most passionate engineers devoted to becoming great leaders,” McLaughlin said. “Having the chance to interface with those kinds of people teaches you a lot about the kind of person you want to become.” 

Of course, the Engineers’ Week tradition at Mizzou won’t stop here. Engineers’ Club is already getting ready to plan for E-Week 2025. 

“E-Week is the oldest tradition and the largest celebration of engineers on MU’s campus,” Robinson said. “We would not be able to have the best, most exciting E-Week without the alumni who have helped carry these traditions throughout the years, the students who spend hours of their free time organizing various E-Week events and the staff who help us execute the events that thousands of people look forward to each year.  

“I believe that this recognition will continue to motivate students to attend Engineers’ Week events and participate in organizing E-Week,” she said. “This will allow our traditions to grow and help retain young engineering students.” 

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