Two events will bring more than 600 area students to The University of Toledo to celebrate Engineers Week.

Founded in 1951, Engineers Week will be celebrated Feb. 17-23 and is dedicated to increasing understanding and interest in engineering and technology careers. The theme this year is “Engineers: Invent Amazing.”

The UT College of Engineering will host its second annual Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day. More than 450 sixth- through eighth-graders from 20 school districts will visit the University from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21.

While on campus, the girls will tour the University’s engineering facilities, eat lunch with UT engineering students, and spend the afternoon participating in hands-on activities.

“We’re extremely excited for how much growth we’ve seen in the Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, both in sheer numbers and the increase in exposure to more schools,” said Bryan Bosch, manager of diversity, inclusion and community engagement in the UT College of Engineering. “There were 312 girls at the event last year.”

Approximately 200 high school students from 24 districts will be on campus Tuesday, Feb. 19 to be an Engineer for a Day.

They will arrive at 9 a.m. and watch a movie, “Dream Big,” in the Lois and Norman Nitschke Auditorium, and then learn about different careers during a tour of UT’s engineering facilities, and engage in hands-on activities with UT engineering students. After lunch, the high school students will shadow a professional engineer in the community for the afternoon.

“We want to show students the wide range of possibilities a career in engineering offers,” Bosch said. “Engineers design, invent and create things to make our world better — and they have a lot of fun, too.”