College of Engineering Events

Design Challenges: Water Filtration

Tuesday, February 24, 2026 5:00pm to 7:30pm
Seamans Center

Grab your friends and dive into two exciting hands-on challenges! No need to prepare or plan ahead—all materials will be provided—and, yes, there will be pizza both nights. Show up ready to build, create, eat pizza, and have fun. Are you up for the challenge?

Think you can turn simple materials into a working water filter? It’s time to find out!

This event is sponsored by the Lichtenberger Engineering Library, KEEN, NEXUS, the Hanson Center for Communication, and the Water Environment Federation.

Library Workshop: Reading Scientific Articles

Thursday, February 26, 2026 3:30pm to 4:30pm
Sciences Library

Learning to efficiently read and understand scientific literature can be a time-consuming process. In this workshop, improve your understanding of scientific literature in both your field and others. Presented by Laurie Neuerburg, sciences head engagement librarian at the Sciences Library. 

This workshop will be presented virtually and in-person

Design Challenges: Shoe Design

Thursday, February 26, 2026 5:00pm to 7:30pm
Seamans Center

Grab your friends and dive into two exciting hands-on challenges! No need to prepare or plan ahead — all materials will be provided — and, yes, there will be pizza both nights. Show up ready to build, create, eat pizza, and have fun. Are you up for the challenge?

Can you design a winter-ready shoe using everyday items? Bring your creativity and teamwork to make something impressive and useful!

This event is sponsored by the Lichtenberger Engineering Library, KEEN, NEXUS, and the Hanson Center for...

Library Workshop: Creating Citations with Endnote

Tuesday, March 3, 2026 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Seamans Center

An introduction to the desktop version of EndNote will be covered in this workshop. The software is freely available to graduate students, faculty, and staff. EndNote is a citation management tool that assists with importing, organizing, sharing, and managing citations and documents, as well as creating correctly formatted in-text citations and bibliographies in almost any style—in seconds. Presented by Marina Zhang, engineering and informatics librarian at the Lichtenberger Engineering Library.

Maker Breaks: Pi Day Celebration!

Tuesday, March 10, 2026 11:30am to 1:00pm
Seamans Center

Take a break and get creative with monthly, themed crafts. Each activity takes only 10 to 20 minutes. Stop by at any time during the 1.5-hour session and explore your creativity!

Celebrate circles and the magic of Pi! Make your own Pi-themed buttons and enjoy free apple pie bites.

Library Workshop: OrcID

Thursday, March 26, 2026 3:30pm to 4:30pm
Sciences Library

ORCiD (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) is a persistent digital identifier to resolve the researcher's name ambiguity problem. Researchers are required to provide their ORCiD iD when applying for a grant or submitting an article for publication. Learn more about creating an ORCiD iD at www.iam.uiowa.edu/planter, linking your ORCiD iD to the University of Iowa, and adding your publication records from data sources (Scopus, CrossRef, etc.) to your ORCiD. Led by Carol Hollier, sciences reference...

Library Workshops: A Guide to Scholarly Publishing—from Journals to Open Access

Wednesday, April 15, 2026 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Seamans Center

Are you unsure which journal to publish in? Have you ever wondered how to identify and avoid predatory publishers? What is the difference between traditional publishing and open access? This workshop will provide answers to these questions and more, and you’ll learn strategies for navigating the jungle of scholarly publishing. Bring your own questions too! Presented by Kari Kozak, director, Sciences and Engineering Libraries.

Alumni Day 2026 promotional image

Alumni Day 2026

Saturday, April 18, 2026 (all day)
Levitt Center for University Advancement
Once a Hawkeye, Always a Hawkeye
Spring Undergraduate Research Festival (SURF) promotional image

Spring Undergraduate Research Festival (SURF)

Wednesday, April 22, 2026 3:30pm to 6:00pm
Iowa Memorial Union (IMU)
The Office of Undergraduate Research's Spring Undergraduate Research Festival (SURF) is held in celebration and recognition of undergraduate researchers' contributions to research, scholarly, and creative work at the University of Iowa.

Maker Break: Shrinky dinks

Wednesday, April 29, 2026 11:30am to 1:00pm
Seamans Center

Get creative with chemical engineering by making your own shrinky dinks! Make your own design and use it to create your own bracelet or keychain.