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Illinois Institute of Technology's (IIT) Rice Campus will host the 24th Annual DuPage Area Engineers Week this February. Part of National Engineers Week, this fun and educational celebration of engineering features the Engineers Week Expo on Saturday, February 23, from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and the annual Speaker's Forum on Thursday, February 21, at 6:30 p.m.. This year's theme is "Engineered in Illinois," highlighting the many innovations of Illinois engineers, with a particular focus on sustainability and green buildings.

The Dupage Area Engineers Week Expo features a series of interactive displays designed to enhance children's interest in math, science and engineering. Volunteers from engineering societies, business, government and education donate their time each year to create fun, hands-on activities and demonstrations that allow young people to experience and explore the many fields of engineering. Exhibits are aimed at middle-school age students, but are fun and educational for people of all ages.

One of the more popular demonstrations is cryogenics, in which items are dropped into a liquid that can freeze an object within seconds. New exhibitors this year include SCARCE, DuPage County’s environmental education arm; robotics from IIT’s Mechanical Engineering Department; and architectural exhibits, including models, photos, and other forms. “Scientific demonstrations like these have an amazing effect on the children and create lasting memories that make them want to learn”, says Dr. Robert Carlson, Director of IIT's Rice Campus.

The Speaker’s Forum on February 21 features Jim Patchett, founder and president of the Conservation Design Forum (CDF), which offers evaluation, planning, design and engineering services in integrated water-based ecological design. The forum’s recent projects include the �糵���� City Hall Rooftop Garden Project, which won the Illinois Engineering Council’s Engineering Achievement Award and the Kresge Foundation Headquarters, which earned the AIA �糵���� Sustainable Design Award. Patchett will speak about the resource impacts of urban, suburban, and rural agricultural land use practices, infiltration-based sustainable water management “green infrastructure,” cultural relationships to land and water resources, and a scientific and philosophical foundation for promoting sustainable planning, design, development, and long term systems management. The Speaker’s Forum begins with a reception at 6:30 p.m. followed by the presentation and questions at 7:15 p.m. Learn more about the Conservation Design Forum on the web at: .

This year, the DuPage Area Engineers Week is partnering with �糵���� Architecture Today (http://www.chicagoarchitecturetoday.com/) in hosting the Midwest Creative Architecture Competition. Entries will be on public display at the IIT Rice Campus from February 13 – March 1, including showing off the winners at the Engineers Week Expo on February 23. The Midwest Creative Architecture Competition awards ceremony will be held at Rice Campus on March 1. More contest details available online at: http://www.chicagoarchitecturetoday.com/contests.htm#table29.

All Engineers Week events are free and open to the public, and will take place at Illinois Institute of Technology's Rice Campus at 201 East Loop Road in Wheaton. More details, updates, and directions are available on the DuPage Area Engineers Week 2008 at http://www.dupageeweek.iit.edu.

Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting university with more than 7,300 students in engineering, sciences, architecture, psychology, design, humanities, business and law. IIT's interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum is designed to advance knowledge through research and scholarship, to cultivate invention improving the human condition, and to prepare students from throughout the world for a life of professional achievement, service to society, and individual fulfillment. Visit www.iit.edu.