Students and faculty hit ‘pause’ for a week of fun during CEAS E-Week

A bearded man with white cap and apron on right serves up soup for a student in a light gray hoodie and dark baseball cap.
Mr. Khan not only had four options to choose from, he was the student-chosen winner of the Soup & Chili Cookoff, part of the college's E-Week.

From Feb. 23–26, Engineers Week (E-Week) brought students, faculty and staff together for a welcome mid-semester break packed with food, games and Panther pride.

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Hundreds of engineering and computer science students stopped by at least one event, and plenty of faculty joined the fun, swapping lectures for ladles and spreadsheets for ping-pong paddles.

Thanks to this year’s sponsor, ATC, the week kicked off with one of the coziest traditions: the CEAS Soup & Chili Cookoff in the EMS lobby. Many faculty members served up their best recipes (along with some from Real Chili) while students cast the deciding votes. Top honors went to Iftekharuddin Khan, industrial & manufacturing engineering. Associate Professor Ben Church, and Assistant Professor Bill Musinski, both materials science & engineering, took second and third place, respectively.  

A man with glasses holds a test tube filled with beans.
Associate Professor Ben Church came in second place in the Soup & Chili Cookoff.
A group shot of six people, including two women. All are wearing dark tops, except for the man on the far left who is wearing a light blue shirt.
Representatives from ATC, which sponsored the activities, also came to play. They included (from left) Javier Martinez-Santos, Devin Renner, Amy Wilke, Corey Young, Stephanie Pierce, and Ken Mero.
A black woman serves chili to a student in a dark jacket.
Associate Professor Wilkistar Otieno, left, serves a student warm chili at during E-Week’s Soup & Chili Cookoff.
Two men play chess. The one on the left has glasses and a black T-shirt on, while the other is wearing a gray long-sleeved shirt.
Engineers are thinkers. These two were in a friendly rivalry during Thursday afternoon’s games.
A woman in a light blue shirt pulls a piece out from the Giant Jenga tower.
Allie Navin with ATC coordinated the involvement of engineers from the company who showed up for Thursday’s games.
Two men are playing ping-pong. The one of the left is seen from the back. A bearded opponent is serving.
Dean Brett Peters tries his luck at ping-pong with a willing opponent during Thursday’s game activities.
Two young black women are playing a game of Giant Connect Four. The one on the left is wearing a pink coat and hat. The other has on a cream-colored coat.
These students challenged each other to a game of Giant Connect Six.
Man and a woman pose with a Panther mascot. The man on the left is wearing wire glasses and is waving at the camera. The woman on the right is wearing a cream-colored jacket and clutching a handbag.
Associate Professor Jaejin Jang, industrial & manufacturing engineering, and his guest show their Panther spirit at Wednesday’s basketball game.
A group shot of six people, from left are two men, then a woman and two young men. A woman in a yellow top is on the right. They are standing in front of a large inflatable mascot.
Those representing the college during on-court honors at Wednesday’s basketball game at Panther Arena were (from left): Associate Dean Andy Graettinger; Dean Brett Peters; undergraduates Brianna Marion Grilley, Christian Ferragut ,and Muhammad Bilal Suleman, biomedical engineering; and Assistant Professor Priya Premnath, biomedical engineering.

Tuesday’s student organization fair made it easy for students to find their people. Wednesday focused on the future, with two job fairs hosted by UWM’s Student Experience and Talent office. The college hosted a prep for the fair plus student breakfast earlier that day. That evening, the celebration moved downtown, where students, staff, alumni and industry partners came together to cheer on the Panthers men’s basketball team against Youngstown at Panther Arena.

By Thursday, the competitive spirit was in full swing as students engaged in games with each other and ATC staff. Chess matches grew intense, giant Jenga towers wobbled dramatically, ping-pong rallies sparked cheers – and pizza disappeared.

A big thank-you goes to ATC for their generous sponsorship and also to this year’s E-Week organizers – Steven Anderson, Michelle Boehm, Sean Lybeck-Smoak and Lisa McGovern – with guidance from Associate Dean Prasenjit Guptasarma.