JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- More than 130 high school students from northeast Florida will attend an Engineering Career Day event and project competition, hosted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District on Friday, Feb. 22.

The day-long event, which is co-sponsored by the Corps, begins at 8:30 a.m. at the district headquarters, located at 701 San Marco Boulevard, Jacksonville.

The 2013 event will be the 11th Annual Engineering Career Day (E-Day) held by the Jacksonville District. It is one of the major events of Northeast Florida Engineers Week held every year in February. Activities include a day of hands-on competitions, interaction with dozens of exhibitors from engineering firms and universities throughout Florida, a luncheon and a keynote speech. The take-home project for 2013 is to design a bridge using computer aided West Point Bridge Designer 2012 software, and constructing a model for support testing. The surprise project, given the day of the event, may relate to the take-home project or may be very different.

"Career Day is a great opportunity to highlight public service engineering needs and career opportunities for future engineers," said Eric Bush, the USACE Planning and Policy Division Chief and this year's keynote speaker. "Now more than ever, our state and our nation need innovative engineering solutions to address our public infrastructure, climate change adaptation and environmental protection and restoration needs. Career Day provides a forum to place those engineering needs and opportunities in a fun and relevant context for future engineers."

Bush is the current Supervising Program Manager of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, Planning and Policy Division, overseeing Everglades Restoration project planning. This year's theme is "Future Connections," where the students will focus on projects that incorporate several different engineering disciplines.

Participating high schools include: Bishop Kenny, Christ Church Academy, Eagles View, Englewood, Fernandina Beach, First Coast, Frank H. Peterson Academies of Technology, Robert E Lee, Yulee, Fletcher, Providence, Orange Park, Clay and Trinity Christian Academy.

Media interested in covering this event should contact Jean Pavlov in advance at: 904-232-1106 or at jean.m.pavlov@usace.army.mil. Prime participation times for media to attend will be from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m.