It was late September 2020. They’d ordered 300 coloring books, just in case.

It would probably be too many — they were hoping it might get 100 people to register — but Sydney Riley, outreach administrator for the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s Office of Recruitment, K-12 Outreach and Scholarships since 2017, figured she could take the leftovers to local classrooms now that schools were returning to in-person attendance. Teachers would probably like that. 

The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and Boeing have enjoyed a longstanding partnership in support of Auburn University students. Beyond funding scholarships and supporting underrepresented students and student organizations, Boeing is now providing opportunities for dozens of Auburn Engineering undergraduates to obtain hands-on, real-world design experience on groundbreaking aerospace projects.

The National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT)’s Test Track recently crossed 10 million miles driven. Opened in 2000 as a testing facility for asphalt research, the track has provided pavement engineers across the USA with an outdoor laboratory where they can experiment with pavement designs while avoiding risks associated with damaged pavements on real-world roadways.

Former Auburn basketball player and engineering alumnus Gary Godfrey apparently didn’t get the memo. 

It’s reminiscent of the famous phrase, “if you build it, they will come.” In this case, however, the “it” represents community and a vital student support network.