The Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering hosted its second annual ME Fall Festival on October 14. The event, sponsored by the department’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Working Group, celebrates the diversity of cultures within the department.

ME faculty, staff and students gathered to share their own traditions, learn about their peers’ backgrounds, and build community. The event also highlighted the holidays and observances that student groups and faculty recognize during the fall season.

Janet Tsai, associate teaching professor and chair of the DEI Working Group, explained the origins of the ME Fall Festival. “After the summer of 2020, a lot of members of our department felt like we should be doing more in the area of diversity and inclusion,” said Tsai. “It was just people who wanted to start talking more and really trying to think about how we can make our department more welcoming and hospitable to everybody.”

This year, the DEI Working Group scheduled the event to coincide with Indigenous People’s Day. A land acknowledgment poster was placed prominently in the courtyard where the event was held and included a statement from the Center of Native American and Indigenous Studies suggesting action to address continuing inequities.

“These are great conversations for us to be having to make sure that people don't just read the land acknowledgement and feel like they're done, but actually try to engage,” said Tsai.

Event attendees participated in activities and games, including a logo design competition, Jenga with stacks of di, a craft station and BINGO, where students won gift cards to Violet Peak Café. There was homemade salsa made by lecturer Carmen Pacheco-Borden’s company Carmen’s Salsa, as well as coffee made from beans from around the world and brewed by students in the Design of Coffee course.

The ME Fall Festival offered student groups an opportunity to increase their visibility across the department. Here’s what students had to say about their experiences in identity-based organizations:

--Kyra Anderson, Society of Women Engineers: “It's important for me because I’ve met a lot of people through SWE. And I think it helps create a great network for women engineers.”

--Isaac Chavarria, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers: “We’re trying to help Hispanics have a connection to the professional world through either older students, alumni or professors. It’s proven that having a community helps you do better in school. Being able to offer that to other Hispanics and being the person who guides this society is such a blessing.”

--Michela Puni Nimako,  National Society of Black Engineers: “Our mission is to increase the number of socially responsible black engineers. NSBE really helps build these engineers up. Going to college can be really hard, and it's like a community that you can go to if you need any help with your classes or just needs people who can relate to you. And also on a national level, we have conferences that were able to network with companies and find internships through that way as well.

--Pradyumna Rao, AAEIO: “When I arrived in the United States from India, I made some mistakes as an undergraduate that I felt were unnecessary. With a little bit of guidance, with a little bit of support, I felt like I could have made more out of my academic experience. Our organization's aim is quite simple. We want to make sure that our members, when they come here, they can make the most inside the classroom as well as outside.”