Engineers embrace some R&R

A brisk breeze rushed over the field of students and professors cooking out at the fall festival for the School of Engineering and Computational Sciences.

Saturday afternoon about 100 students from the School of Engineering and Computational Sciences gathered for a fall festival. The event was held from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Dean of the School of Engineering and Computational Sciences Dr. Ron Sones’ 185-acre farm.

It was the first annual event of its kind, Sones said. It marked the first year the School of Engineering has had seniors. Most attending were upperclassmen. Sones was also glad to see some freshmen. It was good for freshmen to spend time with the upperclassmen, he said.

“It’s (going to be) an annual event, so this is our first year. And it’s a good turnout for our first time,” Sones said.

It was the perfect fall day, nice and cool. Students mingled with professors and their families. All enjoyed a cook out in one of the fields on Sones’ farm.

A featured event was the pumpkin carving contest, judged by three professors. Students slaved over pumpkins, some with logos of the School of Engineering. Others included a pirate pumpkin, a Linux penguin pumpkin and a dead pumpkin.

“See? Nerds can have fun,” Sones laughed.

Senior Katrina Crosson led the all-girls team in carving a pirate pumpkin. She was joined by seniors Liz and Naomi, both Information Systems majors, as well as Beth Byars, the fiancé of an engineer major. Buffy Donahoo, wife of Professor David Donahoo, also helped out the girls.

“We’re going to win this thing,” Crosson said.

The group won in the creative category. Senior Rebekah Smith, an electrical engineering major, said it was nice to have a break from the ordinary.

“It’s so nice to see the professors and their cute babies,” Smith said.

Students were given a chance to relax for a few hours. A student-led band played Christian worship music as well as secular tunes. Students started volleyball and football games on the property.

Students even got a free T-shirt from the School of Engineering.

The School of Engineering and Computational Science is relatively young. It was started in 2006. This year is monumental in that the first class of seniors graduates this year.