Get ready for one of the biggest celebrations of the year at MSOE this week! St. Patrick’s Week is a yearly tradition at MSOE that dates all the way back to the 1930s. Saint Patrick, who was a Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland in the 5th century, is considered to be the patron saint of engineers. Born in Roman Britain, he was captured by Irish pirates as a teenager and taken to Ireland as a slave. He escaped back to Britain after six years of enslavement and became a cleric. Later in life, he returned to Ireland to serve as an ordained bishop. He also introduced to the Irish elements of Roman technology to which he had been exposed back in Britain, including the construction of churches featuring arches. This led to Saint Patrick’s reverence as the patron saint of engineers.

Today, more than 2,000 years later, people around the world celebrate St. Patrick’s Day every year on March 17. Milwaukee School of Engineering takes this one step further and holds an eight-day celebration with fun-filled competitions and events. Students form teams and compete against one another to win points and prizes. At the end of the week, the team with the most points wins the St. Pat’s Overall Winner Trophy and the “St. Patrick” title!

The celebration commenced with a few events this past weekend, including the Egg Drop, in which teams engineered a contraption meant to protect an egg from a three-story fall with only the items they were given. Teams also competed in a Trivia Scavenger Hunt in which trivia questions were broadcasted over 91.7FM WMSE that team members had to answer correctly to accumulate points. On Monday, there was a carnival in the afternoon with free games and T-shirts as well as a dinner of traditional Irish fare in the evening, both of which were held on the third floor of the CC.

Plenty of other fun events will take place over the course of this week. Teams will compete in a set of mental and physical competitions in the “Engineering O’lympics” on Tuesday in the Kern Center. Wednesday will bring a food drive as well as a costume contest before the men’s volleyball game in the Kern Center. A “Cinna-Bonfire” will take place on Thursday where attendees can enjoy a full-sized Cinnabon next to multiple bonfires in the RWJ parking lot. Finally, with the weekend will come a Proclamation Signing in the CC on Friday, and a St. Pat’s Dance on Saturday in the Todd Wehr.

Visit the St. Pat’s Week group for more information on the festivities and to vote for your favorite competing team! Also, be sure to take some pictures of the shenanigans and use the #MSOEStPats hashtag to share them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!