Engineering students put away their books and took a break to show their unique abilities during E-Week’s Engineers Got Talent Show, performing musical acts in the Engineering building on Monday.
The Rube Goldberg team — a group of engineering students who design complex machines — and the National Society of Black Engineers hosted the event.
“Engineers are an eclectic group. We do really cool things and this is just an expression of that,” said Chris Cantoni, a junior studying material sciences and engineering and president of the Rube Goldberg team.
Performers were representatives from different engineering clubs and organizations around campus. All were competing to win first place and earn points in the overall E-Week competition, a series of challenges and events for engineering students specifically. Events began Friday with an opening ceremony and will end on Saturday, where an engineering club or organization will be announced the winner of the overall competition in Crowder Hall at 5 p.m.
“I think this (the talent show) is awesome,” said Chelsea Kestler, an environmental hydrology and water resources junior who participated in the talent show with the Engineers Without Borders club. “We (engineers) are more than people who hang out in the library.”
Some of the acts included a cello and guitar rendition of the song “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and a routine of The Beatles’ “All My Loving.” Cantoni, who helped organize the event, said the talent show was fairly easy to put together as most engineering students have interesting talents and hobbies they like to share with others.
“Everyone has weird little talents you would not thought they had,” Cantoni said. “And this is a chance for students to show that, whether it (the talent) is something that is going to make us laugh, make us think or make us feel good.”
Roger Wilhelmi, a chemical engineering senior, won the talent show for his ukulele performance of “Drop, Baby, Drop” by Kapena. Upon winning, Wilhelmi sang the song once more with crowd participation.
“It’s good to know that I can contribute to what will be our championship E-Week,” said Wilhelmi, who was a representing the engineering honors society Tau Beta Pi. “A lot of engineers get a bad rap for not being social or being busy all the time, so it is a good way to get out there and show we can interact with people and have lives outside of school.”
In addition to earning points for his club, Wilhelmi will also have the opportunity to perform during the closing ceremony of E-Week.
Upcoming events for E-Week include the 20th annual Industry Expo, which is an engineering internship and career fair that will be happening today in the Student Union Memorial Center North Ballroom from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and a Rube Goldberg Competition hosted at Crowder Hall from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
