Timken Co. Program Ties Art to Engineering


CANTON ask any middle-school student if they are interested in pursuing a career in engineering, and you might get a yawn, a roll of the eyes or just plain ignored. But the Timken Co. is hoping to get engineering on the “cool” radar with a new program that ties engineering with art.

This program comes at a time when the rise in Asian economies rivals the United States, and countries such as China are graduating hundreds of thousands of students majoring in engineering, while American universities aren’t even hitting the 100,000 mark.

“In art, you take an idea, and you can sculpt it or paint it,” said 13-year-old Gabrielle Brownfield. “It’s the same with engineering.” Brownfield’s interest is piqued. She’ll be a freshman at McKinley High School this fall and is one of the middle-school students who won a contest to have their artwork (painted on the shape of a football helmet) featured on the Timken Co.’s float in today’s Timken Grand Parade. The students also will walk alongside the float. Brownfield’s mother, Melanie, described the contest win as “a great opportunity” for the students involved.

CREATION, INNOVATION

Jeff Dafler, with Timken’s global media relations, said the company is adapting an “Art of Engineering” program for schools in the United States and piloting it with middle-school students in Northeast Ohio as a means of generating more interest in, and excitement about, careers in engineering.

The “Art of Engineering” concept was developed last year, when the Timken Co. agreed to sponsor the Cleveland Museum of Art’s “From Monet to Picasso” exhibit to the Beijing World Art Museum. So why would a company, known for its roller bearings, sponsor an art exhibit? Both art and engineering “require serious amounts of creativity and innovation when they’re at their best,” Dafler said.

Timken also sponsored an art contest for engineering students at the top five engineering universities in China. The winners, Liwen Wang and Yuan Hong, won a trip to the U.S. “Art and engineering (appear to be) totally two different things,” Wang said. “But, when combined together, create something new (that) is very innovative.”
Wang and Hong said engineering is a popular field of study in China, and industrial design (their major) is new to universities there.

PROCESS AND PRODUCT

Students Chad Duplain, who attends Pfeiffer Middle School, and Shelby Harris, an eighth-grader at Green Middle School, also will be participating in today’s parade. They agreed art and engineering can be seen in everyday items. Harris pointed to the iPod. Its sleek design falls in the art category, while its detailed makeup is the product of engineers.

Meredith Schenz, who teaches art in Perry Local Schools, said art and engineering is about “process and product combined.”

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