ACE Student Leaders Inspired by Bill Nye at Awards Dinner

On Friday, February 21st student leaders from Armour College of Engineering (ACE) attended the Chicagoland Engineering Award Benefit dinner. In attendance were members of the IIT student government, leaders of ACE student organizations, and the finalists of the Fall 2013 PURE Undergraduate Research Expo at IIT.

Congressman Daniel Lipinski, 3rd District, State of Illinois opened the ceremony with a few remarks. Followed by awards given to numerous middle and high school students for winning area science fairs, poster competitions, FIRST Robotics competitions, and even a bridge building competition held at IIT at the end of January.

To close the ceremony Bill Nye, spoke about the importance of promoting STEM education to inspire the engineers that will help solve the problems of tomorrow. All in attendance hung onto every one of Nye’s words as he utilized the same wit and charisma he possessed on TV as the “Science Guy” to inspire everyone in the room.

In addition to speaking, Bill Nye was awarded the Washington Award at the banquet. The award is presented by several engineering societies for “accomplishments that promote the happiness, comfort, and well-being of humanity.” Previous winners of the prestigious award have been Herbert Hoover, Orville Wright, Henry Ford, and Neil Armstrong.

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