When I was in high school, my school hosted a professional day, where industry professionals visited and spoke about what they did at work. I was lucky enough to witness a female Industrial Engineer who spoke about her profession and I was hooked. She said that if we decide to be one, we can apply this trade anywhere. She turned out to be correct. I am grateful that she introduced me to my Industrial Engineering profession now and am happy to return the favor.
At 10:00 a.m. at the California Science Center, Los Angeles, CA, kids and adults alike started asking about what 5S number game is all about. The volunteers were energized by them despite the lack of coffee and breakfast.
The 5S Numbers Game was chosen to introduce the Industrial and Systems Engineering because it was less intimidating for participants and requires very little time to learn the rules. No calculation required. It was simply an exercise of striking out numbers from 1 thru 49 in sequential order given only 30 seconds to complete. They started with a spaghetti of numbers. Improvements were made following the three 5S (Sort, set in order, and standardize). The participants realized that in each round presents improvement in order and simplicity. They were ecstatic as they played.
The participant’s energy in playing the game and their competitiveness echoed at the entrance of the IMAX theater; it was an electrifying experience.  It made numbers less scary and fun for majority of the kids. This experience embodied S.T.E.A.M. During this event they were able to engage with student/professional engineers and to learn about engineers through hands on exercise and through art in this Dream Big film.
