ASCE Houston Hosts Largest-Ever Shadow an Engineer Day in Its 6th Year
Author: Natalie Rozinoyer PE
ASCE Houston is excited to share a huge milestone for our 6th Annual Shadow an Engineer Day. This year’s event brought 210 students from 17 schools face-to-face with professionals from 24 companies, giving them an immersive experience into the civil engineering industry. Students shadowed professional engineers, explored real-world projects, and gained insight into how civil engineers impact their communities. Through hands-on activities, presentations, site visits, and a mentorship lunch Q&A, host companies created a warm and welcoming space for students to ask questions, learn about day-to-day responsibilities, and explore future career paths.
Breaking records
Last year, we connected 89 high school students from 6 different school districts with 14 engineering firms and agencies across the Greater Houston Area. This year, with more than double the amount of student participation, we expanded from a one-day program into a multi-day experience to accommodate increased interest from schools and companies.
A huge thank you to our host companies and volunteers who made this possible:
Engineering Firms:
AECOM · BGE, Inc., Consor, DIG Engineers, Dunaway, EHRA, GFT, Inc., HDR, HNTB, HR Green, LJA, LTRA, Michael Baker International, Odyssey, Rinker, Terracon, Tetra Tech, WGA, Woolpert, WSB
Public Agencies:
City of Pearland, City of Sugar Land, Harris County Precinct 2
What our company volunteers had to say:
“The opportunity for students to ask questions or our younger staff was very beneficial.”
“The students really enjoyed the experience, and getting to learn about civil engineering as well as the other services offered by BGE.”
“Students asked great questions and appreciated hearing about our staff’s experiences.”
“We were delighted to host the students. It was a great experience for us…”
“The students were very polite and interested, asking intelligent questions”
A special thank you to the participating school districts:
Deer Park ISD, Harmony Schools, Houston ISD, Katy ISD, Pasadena ISD, Pearland ISD, Spring Branch ISD
Students and teachers shared their takeaways from this impactful event:
“I enjoyed how we got our own little projects to work on after learning about each department, and how passionate each presenter was in their engineering work. Safe to say I, and the other students, had a lot of fun, and learned a great deal, exploring these branches of civil engineering.” – Student
“My favorite part was just talking to the engineers and learning about their experiences one on one.” – Student
“All around a wonderful experience for my students and would love to go back next year.” – Teacher
“It was a very unique experience to see what an engineering job would look like day to day, which I had never experienced before. I also got good insight into what the company culture was, and I even had the opportunity to sit on a team meeting.” – Student
“The tour of the office and being able to meet the different departments was my students favorite part.” – Teacher
“I got various tips and guidance for my career path which I appreciate a lot!” – Student
Looking Ahead
We are very excited to build on this momentum and aim to expand the event to better represent students’ interests. We want to partner with other engineering organizations and invite companies from various engineering and manufacturing disciplines. We can’t wait to make the 7th Shadow an Engineer Day even bigger and better!
Special thanks to ASCE Houston VP Education Lauren Blaik, PE, Primary and Secondary Education Chairs Natalie Rozinyer, PE and Alexander Carranza for organizing the event.
