First-year students heading to Omaha for annual Industry Tours

Nearly 600 first-year UNL College of Engineering students will tour businesses and industries in the Omaha community on Friday, August 18, as part of the annual NUBE Experience.

Organized by the College of Engineering and the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, the industry tours are part of a daylong learning opportunity for freshmen from the college's campuses in Lincoln and Omaha.

This is the sixth year of the college's annual Fall Industry Tours and marks a return to Omaha, where the 2014 event was held. Other cities to host these trips include Grand Island, Columbus, Norfolk and Lincoln (in 2016).

Students will arrive at TD Ameritrade Park in downtown Omaha at 8:30 a.m. for small-group tours of the facility, led by professional engineers. At 9:15 a.m., groups will take part in one of five walking tours – Union Pacific's Harriman Center and ConAgra Brands; NRG and the Kiewit Training Center; the Riverfront area; the Omaha World-Herald Freedom Center and the Capitol District; and the Gene Leahy Mall and Flywheel.

After these tours, the students will board buses to Baxter Arena for a luncheon and an expo, where they will meet with representatives of local industry to discuss career opportunities in engineering fields.

Students will conclude their day in Omaha with tours of local companies and firms – including BuilderTrend, Claas, Conductix Wampfler, Lozier, NTT Security and Valmont – and other organizations or civic projects – including Aksarben Village, the Clean Solutions for Omaha Missouri River Wastewater Treatement Plant (MRWWTP) Improvement Project, Henry Doorly Zoo, the Metropolitan Utilities District Platte West Water Treatment Plant, an Omaha Public Power District power plant, and the University of Nebraska Medical Center.