More than 40 engineers from the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) recently volunteered at 13 schools for DiscoverE Engineering’s National Engineers Week.
Office of Environmental Management
March 12, 2024
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Hanford Site Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant engineers, clockwise, from left, LJ Rotness, Jeff Eakin and Logan Anspach were among the more than 40 plant volunteers who visited local classrooms during National Engineers Week.
More than 40 engineers from the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) recently volunteered at 13 schools for DiscoverE Engineering’s National Engineers Week.
The volunteers spent time in classrooms educating students on engineering careers and led a variety of hands-on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) activities.
One activity involved the students "purchasing" materials from a nuclear quality vendor that were needed to safely remove a pingpong ball from a brown bag containing "radioactive powder," and transfer it to another bag without any spillage. Volunteers verified if any powder was dropped as the students transferred the ball between bags.
Mat Irwin, acting assistant manager for WTP at Hanford, emphasized the importance of outreach opportunities such as Engineers Week for fostering connections between the Hanford workforce and the community.
"Not only does Engineers Week allow us to educate kids about the world of engineering, but it also helps us cultivate the next generation of engineers at Hanford," said Irwin.
In a recent centerpiece story, EM Update spotlighted five engineers across the cleanup complex for National Engineers Week. Read it here:
EM Update Exclusive Feature
Beyond the classroom, WTP engineers organized Engineers Week activities at a public library and a Boys & Girls Club. The library event, known as DiscoverE Girl Day, was intended to engage and educate girls of all ages about engineering, and was attended by more than 100 girls. WTP engineers set up tables with engineering activities, which included drawing color-coded patterns where small robots could follow the patterns and building electric circuits by using conductive modeling clay.
Volunteers also introduced the pingpong ball and circuit activity to middle and high school students at the Boys & Girls Club. In addition to providing these interactive engineering activities, the engineers discussed the importance of soft skills — intangible skills like critical thinking, teamwork and effective communication — which are part of the club’s Workforce Readiness Program, sponsored by WTP lead contractor Bechtel National Inc.
Jeff Dahl, radiological engineering group supervisor for Bechtel, coordinated the volunteers and expressed his satisfaction with this year’s event.
"It was fantastic to see our engineers engaging with the community and creating excitement about engineering with local kids,” said Dahl. “Engineers Week provides us with an opportunity to introduce STEM activities to kids and educate them on the possibilities within the field of engineering.”
-Contributor: Tyler Oates
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