The smell of burgers and hot dogs on the grill permeated the air while Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” played from a speaker at the 2020 Engineers Week kickoff party Friday. 

The Student Engineering Council is hosting its annual E-Week, a week-long competition between about 20 engineering organizations on campus. E-Week includes activities such as a scavenger hunt, talent show and charity dodgeball tournament.

“Basically, it’s just a week where we skip a lot of class and we have a lot of fun,” mechanical engineering sophomore Jose Martinez said.

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers hosted the kickoff event because they were last year’s champions. They provided food for the other organizations and planned three minigames to get the competition started. The minigames included a Frisbee passing game, a Pac-Man-style maze and a barrel rolling game with tennis balls and baskets.

During Pac-People, students locked arms and formed a human maze as their friends sprinted through the labyrinth of limbs. 

Martinez, external affairs officer of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ UT chapter, said there are about eight hours of competitions every day during E-Week. 

(“During E-Week,) everyone’s just as invested and crazy about it as you are, and the energy is really cool,” Martinez said.

Organizations earn points by competing in, attending and hosting events. The organization that earns the most points receives a trophy at the concluding event on Monday, the E-Week Banquet, and gets to plan the kickoff event for the following year. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers has taken home the trophy the last four years.

“It’s a great way to bond with the engineering school, have a friendly competition and foster those connections,” said Sam LeBus, mechanical engineering sophomore and co-director of engineering activities for the Student Engineering Council.  

Scott Brinen, co-director of engineering activities for the Student Engineering Council, said his favorite part of E-Week is interacting with engineers he does not see throughout the school year.

“I know people from two years ago that I met from the first week I was a part of that (that) I still have a connection with,” chemical engineering junior Brinen said. “Meeting new people each year and then seeing them again as we compete … is super cool.” 

Mechanical engineering junior Haley Morris said E-Week can be chaotic, but in a good way. 

“The events are wild sometimes,” Morris said. “These are some of the events I’ve laughed the hardest at in my life.”