‘Dream Big’ Film Inspires Area Students to Look Twice at Engineering

10/27/2017

LSU College of Engineering Recruiting and Outreach Manager Andy Osborn said that when he first viewed the film, “Dream Big: Engineering Our World,” he knew it had to be shared with students in the Baton Rouge community.

“I was shocked by the amount of overlap between the movie and things going on within the college,” Osborn said.

Consequently, a screening was held at the Louisiana Arts & Sciences Museum in downtown Baton Rouge.

In the film, Angelica Hernandez, Avery Bang, Steve Burrows and Menzer Pehilivan shared their personal experiences on how an interest in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, helped them to change the lives of people across the world.

For example, Hernandez is a Mexican immigrant turned leading Arizona engineer who got her start in the robotics club at Carl Hayden High School. In 2004, her robotics team defeated the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in a robotics competition.

Bang founded Bridges to Prosperity’s University Program, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides isolated communities with access to a variety of opportunities by building footbridges over impassable rivers.

For the students in attendance, stories like that of Hernandez and Bang were inspiring.

Trinity Wicker, a student at Southern University Laboratory School, wanted to major in chemical engineering but after seeing the film, may pursue a degree in electrical or mechanical engineering.

“It has really opened my eyes to things I didn’t know about,” Wicker said.

Wicker wasn’t the only student surprised by the personal stories in the film.

Paulina Bourgeois has always been interested in earning a degree in biological engineering and going to medical school. However, the St. Michael the Archangel High School student said she really liked the bridge project.

“Instead of taking an engineering job that pays a lot of money, [Bang] did something that was beneficial to others,” Bourgeois said. “I thought that was really cool.”

“Hopefully the students are inspired by [Dream Big] because there are a lot of cool and inspiring stories,” Osborn said. “Especially about how educators and engineers in the field can help to inspire the next generation of engineers.”

To learn more about “Dream Big: Engineering Our World,” visit https://www.dreambigfilm.com/. 

To learn more about the College of Engineering, visit www.lsu.edu/eng and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat @lsuengineering.

 

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Article by Raven Nichols, communications intern. For more information contact Josh Duplechain, director of communications, at josh@lsu.edu.