K-State architectural engineering students initiate inaugural student conference

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Sources: Daniel Matlack, 785-532-1839, dwm4474@k-state.edu;
and Meagan Miller, 620-694-9504, meagm11@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Levi Wolters, 785-532-6415, media@k-state.edu

Thursday, December 14, 2006

K-STATE ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING STUDENTS INITIATE INAUGURAL STUDENT CONFERENCE

MANHATTAN -- The first-ever National Architectural Engineering Institute Student Conference will be led in both planning and host duties by the president and the national liaison of Kansas State University's Architectural Engineering Institute's student chapter.

Meagan Miller, national liaison and senior in architectural engineering, Hutchinson, and Daniel Matlack, chapter president and senior in architectural engineering, Salina, along with four student chapter officers from the University of Kansas and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, are in the planning stages of the conference. The event is expected to draw close to 100 students and university faculty from 17 universities from across the country with accredited architectural engineering programs.

The conference will be March 30-31, 2007, at the Embassy Suites in Kansas City, Kan.

"It has required a moderate amount of work to get the ball rolling, but everything seems to be going smoothly so far," Matlack said. "At times it has been very difficult to balance the class loads, local Architectural Engineering Institute chapter activities and conference planning, but it has not created a problem as of yet."

The idea of a student conference came about at the national professional conference in Omaha, Neb., in late March when Raphael "Ray" Yunk, K-State chapter adviser and assistant professor of architectural engineering and construction science, proposed the idea. From there, the students ran with it.

Following the professional conference, five chapter officers from K-State got together and wrote a student conference application to present to the national chapter for approval. The application was first approved by the University of Kansas and University of Nebraska-Lincoln chapters and was then sent on to the national chapter, which gave the planning committee the consent.

With only seven months to plan, the six-member planning team has been crunched in putting together a conference from top to bottom in hopes it will set a precedent for future student conferences. Each member has been put in charge of a specific area of planning. The committee meets every few weeks to discuss what has been accomplished and what still needs to be.

"We had to really think about budget and attendance numbers," Miller said. "Once we got organized, it wasn't too difficult. Each school was delegated tasks and has done a great job getting them done."

Thus far, the planning committee has scheduled speakers, workshops, a career fair and a variety of student competitions, including an essay contest, building contest and "Joe's vs. Pro's" competition.

"The one I am most excited about is the 'Joe's vs. Pro's' competition, where students will have the chance to take on professional engineers," Matlack said. "The game will be modeled much like the 'Pro's vs. Joe's' game show originally created by Spike TV, except with an engineering retrofit."

Also on the conference's agenda are site tours around Kansas City. Each tour will be geared to a different area of architectural engineering, and students will choose which tour they would like to attend based on their area of interest.

"We thought it was important to have a conference of our own so students can learn and interact with each other on a separate stage that focuses on student-level engineering applications," Matlack said. "This conference will allow students to begin developing national networks with each other and professionals that will help guide them in their future careers."