Wartburg College will celebrate National Engineers Week, Feb. 16-22, with a community open house, a dinner honoring a new endowed professorship and special classroom guests.

National Engineers Week, sponsored by the National Society of Professional Engineers, is an annual celebration that raises pride in engineering and interest among elementary, middle and high school students.

Area third- through sixth-graders are invited to the Wartburg Science Center Tuesday, Feb. 18, for an engineering open house. The activities will include projects representing several areas of engineering specialization including mechanical, aerospace, civil and construction, and chemical and material science.

For two hours beginning at 6:30 p.m., students will be able make balloon-powered cars, build a toothpick bridge or flying device, and make and experiment with oobleck, a mixture of cornstarch and water with unusual physical properties. Activities will be in the Science Center rooms 238, 244 and 245.

On Sunday, Feb. 16, friends of the college will gather at an invitation-only dinner to honor Dr. Daniel Black, a professor of physical and engineering science. Black holds the Gary and Donna Hoover Distinguished Professorship in Engineering Science, which was established this year to support one of the college’s fastest-growing academic programs.

Engineering science students at Wartburg also will have the opportunity to hear from successful professionals in the field during classes that week.

“National Engineers Week is a great opportunity for people to learn more about the work all engineers do,” Black said. “Engineering is one of the largest professions, but it is a silent profession. We are concerned that the general public is not aware of just how many people it takes to run a society like ours. Hopefully, events like these will help shed some light on the issue.”