ArtsQuest and the Lehigh Valley Section of American Society of Civil Engineers (LVASCE) celebrated national Engineers Week by premiering ‘Dream Big: Engineering Our World’, a film produced by award – winning McGillivray Freeman Films. The American Society of Engineers partnered on the project, which was presented by the Bechtel Corporation.

Students from the Bethlehem Area, East Penn, Easton, Northampton, Parkland, and Saucon Valley school districts, as well as Allentown Diocese and Swain School were invited to attend the premiere and each received a small gift bag containing related information about engineering.

Engineers Stephen Ressler, Michael Derr, Katherine Clark and Rachel Miles were available to discuss careers in engineering and respond to questions from the students.

“I already wanted to become a computer engineer and it improved my belief in it,” said Easton MS student Michael Martyak after viewing the film and listening to the speakers.

Ressler, a professor emeritus at the United States Military Academy who is also a Lehigh University graduate, explained that the hope is to inspire the students.

“There’s much more to it,” said Ressler. “It’s a service and shows that there’s something higher to aspire to,” he added.

Derr, who is president elect of LVASCE and an engineer with Geo-technology Associates, Inc., feels there is a huge need for students to be educated in Science-Technology-Engineering-Math (STEM) educational components.