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By Suzy Ruder, Class of 2019, Education Guide, Exhibit Host
Photos by Anna Munzesheimer

The popular children’s song, “The more we work together the happier we’ll be …” sure was a theme of CAC’s 12th annual Engineering-Fest (or E-Fest) held on February 24, 2024, at Willis (Sears) Tower. This annual event occurs the third week of every February to coincide with National Engineering Week and Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day. E-Fest themes change from year to year to align with current CAC watchlist topics, such as The Changing Downtown.

This year, in honor of the Willis Tower’s 50th anniversary, the official title of this extraordinary event was “Building Tall,” and it attracted a throng of more than 1,250 people — a 55% increase over past years. The lobby of the famous tower was buzzing with activity, challenging kids ages 8-12 years and their families to imagine, design, create, and build a variety of structures with unique materials.

In addition to the lobby experiences, E-Fest attendees could take a 45-minute walking tour that was developed by Lisa Ciota and led by a team of Education Guides.  The catchy tour title — “Used to Be Tall: Evolution of the Skyscraper” — covered nearly 150 years of skyscraper history. The tour included these iconic buildings: The Rookery, Board of Trade, Monadnock, Federal Center, and the Marquette. Amazingly, of the 250 tourees, only a few had been to this part of the Loop, but all embraced the new look of, well, looking up! As one of the Education Guides leading the tour, I experienced our visitors’ excitement as they learned about arches, Chicago windows, ornamentation, load-bearing walls vs. steel skeletons, and more. Visitors didn’t just parrot these terms, but soon began asking about other buildings that have the same features! Rooks, bovines, and Ceres became new vocabulary, for sure. Many were gob-smacked by the Marquette Building’s interior mosaics and Kemes’s sculptures. “Who knew?” popped out of mouths in complete wonder.

Wow! How was this even possible? Well, “the more we work together, the happier we’ll be …”. CAC staff and volunteers, led by Angela Esposito, teamed up with several local engineering firms that provided working architects, designers, and engineers to help plan and manage the fifteen activity stations offered at the event. These included the Catapult Challenge, Marshmallow Tower Challenge, City Planning Challenge, Re: Repositioning, and so much more.  These firms annually volunteer to support an E-Fest that entices children and families to engage with and enjoy their CITY!

This is the first time E-Fest was been held at Willis Tower; in the past, this event, the CAC’s second largest after Open House Chicago, was held at the CAC’s home base.  Better yet, this event gives credit to the pipeline of future talent being developed through CAC’s youth and adult programs such as Girls Build and Teen Fellows. Individuals proudly volunteer to share their experiences and mentor the younger visitors.

This year’s E-Fest sponsors and volunteers included: Cyclone Energy Group, Sargent & Lundy, Catalog At Willis Tower, and many others.

Planning is in the works for next year. All volunteers are welcome to join the planning, so mark your calendars for February, 2025!

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