Temple University held its first annual Engineering Expo on Feb. 26, drawing more than 400 guests to the Science Education and Research Center and College of Engineering building. The event featured interactive demonstrations, faculty meet-and-greets, and opportunities for local K–12 students to explore engineering projects.
The expo aimed to showcase the breadth of innovation within Temple’s engineering community and encourage collaboration among students and faculty. Organizers designed the event as a public-facing celebration that coincided with National Engineers Week, which ran from Feb. 22 to 28.
Cory Budischak, associate dean for undergraduate affairs at the College of Engineering, said the expo provided a rare chance for members of the college to connect across disciplines. “Even I don’t always know what’s going on with all of our research labs, all of our senior design projects, and I’m here all day every day,” Budischak said. “There are students talking with professors, students talking with other students. There are graduate students interacting with undergrad students. We don’t get a lot of chances with our busy schedules to really come together as an engineering community and interface with each other like we can today.”
Among the highlights were table demonstrations such as a humanoid robot performing pushups and a hydroponic garden built by Engineers for Climate Action using a grant from the Office of Sustainability. Erich Sands, a mechanical engineering major from the Class of 2026, explained their project: “We’re just trying to promote sustainable growing practices that you can use in the city, or in low-space urban environments,” Sands said. “You might not have a lawn or a garden, but if you have a free corner, you can grow produce. Over the summer we produced about 15 gallon-bags of lettuce. All of that got donated to the Cherry Pantry.”
The event also welcomed K–12 students from schools including Science Leadership Academy, Mastery Charter Thomas High School, Esperanza Academy Charter School, Tech Freire Charter High School and Philadelphia Military Academy. Budischak said it was important for younger students to see firsthand what is possible in college-level engineering: “A lot of students, especially K–12 students, don’t realize that we have a thriving engineering program here at Temple. It’s important to show them the awesome work that our students and professors are doing in their labs,” Budischak said.
Students who attended expressed enthusiasm about what they saw at the expo. “The robotics table was awesome—we’re robotics nerds,” said Asleiny Burgos, an 11th-grade student from Esperanza Academy. “This showed us how engineering can help us grow, and some of the steppingstones and milestones we can look forward to.” Steven Bustamante added: “Those were very helpful for me because honestly I never considered Temple before. But after seeing all of the clubs and investment into engineering now I’m considering it.”
Curt Roberts, teacher at Esperanza Academy who accompanied his class to previous Demo Days events at Temple University, expects this new tradition will continue with future expos.
