Somewhere between building LEGO cities on the living room floor and binge-watching futuristic robots saving humanity (is it time for WALL-E 2?), a lot of us fell in love with figuring out how things work.
National Engineers Week is a celebration of curiosity. It's about the child who asks why, the student who asks what if, and the teacher who says, let’s try it. Each year, Engineers Week invites us to recognize the thinkers, problem-solvers, and creators shaping our world and to inspire the next generation to never limit themselves because if they can dream it, they can build it!
What Does It Mean to Be an Engineer?
Every great solution begins with someone willing to ask one more question.
Engineers look at the world and wonder:
How can this work better?
How can we help more people?
How can we build something that lasts?
In the late 1800s, the Brooklyn Bridge stood unfinished over the East River after the chief engineer, Washington Roebling, became severely ill from decompression sickness (a dangerous condition that struck many workers during construction.) At a time when women were rarely welcomed into technical fields, Emily Warren Roebling stepped into an unexpected role.
What began as relaying her husband’s instructions soon grew into something far greater. Emily studied engineering principles and, for more than a decade, managed contractors, supervised crews, inspected construction, and navigated conversations with politicians and reporters—helping guide the project through years of complex challenges. By the time the bridge opened in 1883, she had become the public face of one of the most ambitious engineering projects of the century and she became widely known as “the woman who saved the Brooklyn Bridge."1
Because of her determination, two cities were joined and millions of lives were made easier, safer, and more connected.Engineering in the Age of AI
Today’s engineers are designing alongside tools that once belonged to science fiction. Artificial intelligence can analyze massive datasets, simulate thousands of design variations in seconds, and help engineers test solutions before a single prototype is built. From improving traffic flow in growing cities to helping doctors detect disease earlier, AI is accelerating how problems are understood and solved.
Yet the heart of engineering remains deeply human.
Research from the World Economic Forum highlights that tomorrow’s engineers need more than technical fluency. With their The Future of Jobs Report 2025 2 stating, “creative thinking, resilience, flexibility and agility, along with curiosity and lifelong learning, are also expected to continue to rise in importance over the 2025-2030 period.”
AI can surface patterns and generate possibilities, but engineers decide what is safe, ethical, and truly useful. Human judgment shapes how technology is applied, whose needs are prioritized, and how solutions serve real communities.
Inspiration in Action
Programs like Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day show how one moment of encouragement can shape a future.
In this short video, Victoria Ibarra shares how attending her first engineering outreach event at age 10 sparked a passion that led her to pursue engineering and return years later as a volunteer to inspire the next generation.
Her story is a reminder that when girls are given opportunities to explore engineering early, they begin to see themselves as problem-solvers, creators, and future innovators.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVkchWagQjQ
Engineering Starts with Hands-On Discovery
Hands-on experiences help students move from imagination to real-world creation. When learners design, build, test, and try again, engineering becomes something they can see, touch, and understand.
In classrooms and makerspaces, this might look like students constructing bridges and testing their strength, experimenting with renewable energy, or exploring robotics and automation to understand how technology solves real problems. Through engineering design challenges, they discover that setbacks are part of the process and that improvement comes through iteration.
Open-ended tools can make this kind of exploration possible for every learner. Resources like Pitsco’s STEAM Builder Bin invite students to explore design, construction, and the engineering design process through tiered challenges that grow with their skills. The Inventions Pack puts a wide variety of everyday materials into students’ hands, encouraging them to prototype, problem-solve, and invent solutions limited only by their imagination. For learners ready to explore coding and robotics, the award-winning Seeker® robot introduces computer science through real-world problem-solving and “technology for good,” helping students see how engineering connects to future careers.
Most importantly, these experiences build confidence. When students see their ideas take shape and solve real challenges, engineering stops feeling distant or abstract and starts feeling possible.
Inspiration Today, Innovation Tomorrow
Engineering is built on persistence, creativity, and the drive to solve real problems.
This Engineers Week, we celebrate both the engineers shaping our world and the students learning they can shape it too. With every design challenge and hands-on discovery, the next generation is building the confidence to turn ideas into solutions.
After all, every innovation begins with a simple question: What if?