Half-day Event Features Online Student Leadership Training, Multiple Competitions via Video Submission, and Virtual Networking Opportunities for Engineering Students

NEW YORK, April 6, 2020 – As the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the closure of college campuses and cancellation or postponement of many events, engineering students are finding productive ways to apply their education and skills as they shelter in place. Engineering faculty and professionals are collaborating with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to amplify this activity by hosting a FREE half-day virtual event for engineering students around the world. ASME Engineering Festivals® (E-Fests) presents  E-Fest Digital on Saturday, April 25, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. EDT, on the ASME E-Fests® YouTube channel.

Building on the success of ASME E-Fests® and ASME EFx®, the E-Fest Digital program will include an engaging new mix of sponsored content, design and presentation competitions, mentoring sessions and skill-building sessions, plus awards and prizes designed to empower the diverse, multidisciplinary engineering workforce of tomorrow. ASME Executive Director/CEO Tom Costabile will deliver opening remarks. Online registration is now open.

All engineering students are encouraged to participate in E-Fest Digital, including those individuals and teams who previously registered for the cancelled 2020 E-Fest North or E-Fest South events. The virtual experience will include five reimagined competitions that give students a chance to apply their engineering education and demonstrate their abilities via video submission (video submission deadlines are posted on the E-Fest Digital website):

• Human Powered Vehicle Challenge (HPVC) – Student teams from colleges and universities can submit videos of their designs and prototypes of sustainable transportation alternatives for everyday use – from commuting to work, to carrying goods to market.
   
• Student Design Competition – Student teams design prototypes, typically involving robotics, and will record and submit a five-minute video presentation that describes the design, production and re-design process of their device.
   
• Innovative Additive Manufacturing 3D (IAM3D™) Challenge – The 2020 ASME IAM3D Unmanned Aerial Racing Cargo Vehicle (U.A.R.C.V.) competition tasks university students to use an iterative design process and additive manufacturing techniques to produce an U.A.R.C.V. that can navigate obstacles and deliver its payload. Teams must submit a six-minute video design report.
   
• Oral Competition (sponsored by the ASME Old Guard Committee) – This competition is designed to emphasize the value of delivering clear, concise and effective oral presentations, particularly pertaining to some sphere in which an engineer is involved. Student competitors are required to create a 15-minute-maximum-length video of their technical presentation.
   
• Elevator Pitch Competition (sponsored by the ASME Old Guard Committee) – Students are challenged to pitch a project, idea, product or themselves, demonstrating this essential tool for interviews and career development. Competitors are required to create a 95-second video of their pitch, choosing from one of two challenge statements: the first on additive manufacturing; or a new challenge statement focusing on the coronavirus. Finalists for this new challenge statement will present their pitch LIVE via Zoom during E-Fest Digital.
   

“ASME is excited to bring this new version of E-Fest to the student community,” says ASME President Richard Laudenat. “Through E-Fest Digital, engineering students have an opportunity to gather virtually, to learn and share with the larger global student community and professional engineers.”

For the third consecutive year, Siemens is a platinum sponsor of the ASME E-Fest event series.

“The E-Fest movement continues to demonstrate the unique value that ASME delivers in bringing industry and academia together to prepare the next generation workforce, and to empower today’s engineering students with hands-on experience, networking and career preparation,” says John Miller, senior vice president of mainstream engineering at Siemens PLM Software.  

For more information on sponsorship opportunities and a list of all sponsors, visit efests.asme.org/sponsorship.
 

About ASME E-Fests®

ASME Engineering Festivals® (E-Fests) are regional events for engineering students that include design competitions, career development workshops, access to thought leaders and innovators in various engineering fields, and networking opportunities. E-Fests also extend beyond the in-person events and provide online content, resources and a community that enables students to foster innovation, network with key players in the industry, connect with peers and celebrate engineering!

    #EFestDigital

 
About ASME

ASME helps the global engineering community develop solutions to real world challenges. Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing and skill development across all engineering disciplines, while promoting the vital role of the engineer in society. ASME codes and standards, publications, conferences, continuing education and professional development programs provide a foundation for advancing technical knowledge and a safer world. www.asme.org

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Media contact: 

Monica Shovlin
MCShovlin Communications LLC (for ASME)
monica@mcshovlin.com
541.554.3796