Intellectual property specialty law firm Fishman Stewart PLLC is helping to engage student voices about the profession of engineering through its sponsorship of the Engineering Society of Detroit's (ESD) annual Engineering Student Writing Contest. As part of the contest, the firm awards the author of the winning essay a $1,000 scholarship.
Julian Blank, a graduate student at Michigan State University's College of Engineering and Computer Science, was awarded the first-place essay award at ESD's (virtual) annual Gold Award Reception & Recognition on March 16. Blank's essay, "A Small Request," addressed one of the contest's questions, "What is something positive that came out of the last 18 months of living in the pandemic world?"
"Strong writing is critical to analyzing and sharing difficult engineering concepts, which are often subject to intellectual property protection. Fishman Stewart is pleased to support the efforts of engineering students who seek to demonstrate their writing skills through the Engineering Society of Detroit's student writing contest," Fishman Stewart Managing Partner Michael Stewart said.
ESD's annual writing contest is open to all engineering students who attend Michigan universities and are studying within any of the engineering and related disciplines. Essay contest writers are able to choose one question from several topics offered. The top three essays are chosen by the editorial board of ESD's TechCentury Magazine and the first-place essayist is formally recognized and awarded the scholarship at the Gold Award Reception.
This year's runner up essays are "COVID-19 Pandemic: The Good Stories You Do Not Hear About," by Logan Jorgensen, an automotive engineering student at Ferris State University; and "Honoring Sacrifices and Making Room for Dreams," by Vicente Amado Olivo, a graduate student studying computational mathematics, science and engineering at Michigan State University. All three top essays can be found beginning on page 20 in the Spring 2022 edition of TechCentury at https://www.esd.org/publications/technology-century.
The themes for the next contest will be announced later this summer with a fall deadline. For more information about the contest, visit esd.org or contact Susan Thwing at sthwing@esd.org.
