Firms Pitch Engineering Careers to High School Students
3/24/2010
Philadelphia – It was a team of engineers that enabled the Philadelphia Phillies franchise to put its team of players on the field at the architectural wonder known as Citizens Bank Park.And just as a team must come together to win a ballgame, it is the collaborative efforts of a wide range of engineers who work together to construct a “field of dreams” like Citizens Bank Park.
That was one of many messages delivered to 60 students from three area high schools who participated in a tour of the stadium as part of a program designed to highlight the vast and exciting career opportunities in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) disciplines. “Explore STEM Philly” is part of the southeast STEM region’s outreach and awareness program, which was made possible by a grant to the region by Team Pennsylvania Foundation.
“The Phillies put a team on the field, but the engineers put the field under the team,” Eric Flicker, Chief Financial Officer, Pennoni Associates, said. “We talk about the 10th man in Philadelphia during the playoffs and the World Series and the impact they have on the team. While the fans (the 10th man) are in the stands, it was the engineers who put the stands beneath the fans.”
The event included a video of the birth of the ballpark and a tour of the facility from an engineering point of view – including the home team’s dugout to the training and weight rooms and clubhouse to the boiler room, where the humongous heating and ventilation system is housed.
Because a stadium is not a finished product like an office building, Flicker said it is the perfect venue to see close-up the structural, mechanical and electrical elements that are the products of an engineer’s trade.
Joanne Ferroni, Director of Outreach and Development, Drexel University College of Engineering, told the students while it is easy to question why they must study math and science, the purpose of this event was to show them why it is important.
“Math and science are what these engineers took in high school and college to get where they are today,” Ferroni said. “So when you go back to school tomorrow, you will hopefully keep in the back of your mind that everything you are learning is for a reason – because that is what is going to help you be successful when you apply for college.”
Joe Giles, Director of Business Development for the Phillies, told the students the organization was lucky to have a great team of engineers to design the ballpark.
“If you look at polls where people rank ballparks and stadiums, we are typically near the top in the rankings, which is mainly due to the engineers from Pennoni and Ewing Cole who worked on this project,” Giles said.
Lowell Thomas, Senior Policy Manager, Governor’s Policy Office, asked the students if they enjoyed music and movies and told them engineers make that possible.
“Engineers play so much a part of everything you do,” Thomas said. “You are sitting in an architectural marvel. Keep your eyes open today, ask questions and learn from this experience. You can’t expect to just walk out of school and find a job. If you do, it won’t pay very much. We are offering you an opportunity to open your world up.”
Jared Loos of Ewing Cole said engineers work on a variety of projects, but one like Citizens Bank Park, which involved over 200 architects and engineers and required over 1,000 drawings and designs, is among the most fun in which he was involved.
“It is fun to work on a project of this size and magnitude that you not only see on TV, but your friends and neighbors and family can come enjoy too,” Loos said. “A lot of hard work went into designing this, but it is one of the most rewarding projects that I personally worked on.”
Loos outlined the five types of engineering – architectural, civil, electrical, mechanical and structural – and noted how each worked together to create the stadium. After the tour, the students filled out a follow-up sheet to gauge what they learned during the presentations and tour.
During the tour, Pennoni engineer Elizabeth Norton explained how her company designed the field so it actually drains by gravity to a lift station. The pumps at the station lift the water from the wet well to sewers in the street, she said.
Wiliam Fernandez, a ninth-grade student at Ben Franklin High School, said he is interested in a career as an architect.
“Architects are able to express themselves through their creativity,” Fernandez said. “They are able to use their imaginations in their designs and create amazing things like this stadium. They make people’s lives happier with the things they create.”
Explore STEM Philly was hosted by Pennoni Associates, Drexel University College of Engineering, Ewing Cole, the Engineers Club of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Math and Science Coalition.
