ASME E-Fests® Announces Keynote, Expanded Format for E-Fest Digital, April 23-24

 
NEW YORK, April 14, 2021 –Engineering students, faculty, and professionals are collaborating with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to host a FREE 24-hour virtual event for young aspiring and early career engineers and engineering students around the world. ASME Engineering Festivals® (E-Fests) presents E-Fest Digital beginning Friday, April 23 at 9 a.m. EDT through Saturday, April 24 at 9 p.m. EDT, on the ASME E-Fests® virtual event portal. Online registration is now open.

The event features keynote remarks from Gitanjali Rao, the 15-year-old inventor who was recognized as America's Top Young Scientist and received an EPA Presidential award for inventing "Tethys," an early lead detection tool. She has been honored as one of Forbes “30 Under 30 in Science” in 2019 and TIME’s “Top Young Innovator” for her innovations and STEM workshops, which have inspired 35,000 students across four continents in the last two years. An experienced TED speaker and frequent presenter in global and corporate forums on innovation and the importance of STEM education, Rao shares her own process of innovation that can be used by students all over the world. The sophomore student at STEM School Highlands Ranch in Colorado was recently honored as TIME Kid of the Year 2020 for her community service and innovations and is an author of the book "Young Innovator's Guide to STEM" which was released March 16. Rao will speak live at 2 p.m. EDT on Saturday, April 24, and answer questions from E-Fest Digital participants.
 
The expanded 2021 E-Fest Digital format includes programming for university engineering students as well as community college students and early career engineers, and several high schools have also been invited to participate in a pilot track. Blocks of live, pre-recorded, and on-demand content will be timed for the convenience of regional participants in North America, Middle East/North Africa, Asia Pacific, and Latin America over the 24-hour period. The event also includes a digital scavenger hunt with clues and prizes throughout the event.

ASME Executive Director/CEO Tom Costabile will participate and deliver remarks, as will President Bryan Erler, President-Elect Mahantesh Hiremath, Immediate Past President Richard Laudenat and other senior volunteer leadership. Session topics include biomedical engineering, additive manufacturing, aerospace, networking skills, plus informal networking rooms and much more.   

The virtual experience will include new and returning competitions that give students a chance to apply their engineering education and demonstrate their abilities via video submission, including:
 

• NEW: The Altair Simulation Challenge recognizes the use of computer aided engineering (CAE) simulation to understand and enhance a part or system of parts. Students/teams are required to submit a preliminary and final report.
   
• NEW: ASME Environmental Systems Division Oral Competition give students and early career professionals the chance to showcase their speaking skills and highlight their technical, management and policy knowledge related to the environment.  Participants will submit an initial abstract and if accepted, submit an additional elimination round video followed by the LIVE finals on April 23 during E-Fest Digital.

Human Powered Vehicle Challenge (HPVC) (sponsored by Mercer)– an engineering design & innovation competition where students can network and apply engineering principles through the design, fabrication, and racing of human powered vehicles. Student teams are encouraged to participate in one or both 2021 competition categories: Critical Design Review and/or Innovation.
 

• The ASME Student Design Competition (sponsored by Boeing)– provides a platform for students to present their solutions to a range of design problems, from everyday household tasks to groundbreaking space exploration. Each team is required to design, construct, and operate a prototype. The 2021 challenge focuses on “Harvesting the Sun and the Wind,” and will require a series of video submissions for each elimination round.
   
• Innovative Additive Manufacturing 3D (IAM3D™) Challenge (sponsored by Siemens) – The 2021 ASME IAM3D Unmanned Aerial Racing Cargo Vehicle (U.A.R.C.V.) competition tasks 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 written design report and several videos to showcase their drone.
   
• 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 pertaining to some sphere in which an engineer is involved. Student competitors are required to present a 15-minute-maximum-length technical presentation via a LIVE Zoom.
   
• 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.  The 2021 challenge statement focuses on the digital transformation of the pandemic world. Finalists for this new challenge statement presented their pitch on Saturday, March 27.

“ASME is excited to continue engaging with the student and early-career community through E-Fest Digital,” says ASME President Bryan Erler. “It’s more important than ever that engineering students and young engineers have an opportunity to gather virtually, to learn and share with the larger global student community and professional engineers.”

For more information on sponsorship opportunities and a list of all sponsors, visit https://efestdigital.asme.org/page/1629080/sponsors.

  
About ASME E-Fests®
ASME Engineering Festivals® (E-Fests) are regional events for engineering students and early career engineers 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.

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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.  ASME recently formed the International Society of Interdisciplinary Engineers (ISIE) LLC, a new for-profit subsidiary to house business ventures that will bring new and innovative products, services, and technologies to the engineering community. For more information, visit www.asme.org.

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Media contact:            
 
Monica Shovlin
MCShovlin Communications LLC (for ASME)
monica@mcshovlin.com
+1 541.554.3796