What is EYH?

EYH is an event for middle school girls designed to nurture their interests in mathematics, science, and technology. Around 450 girls attend each year, and a typical day consists of four hands-on workshops in various STEM-related fields. DMC Houston engineers, including Elizabeth, Maddie and I, put together coding demonstrations to get them interested in programming.

Fun Processing Demos

After a quick ten-minute introduction to DMC and our backgrounds, the girls got to begin coding with a programming language called Processing. Processing is an open-source graphical library, which makes it a great tool for teaching the fundamentals of computer programming.

The first demo consisted of programming the proper sequence for a stoplight. The girls were given a template project that provided them with three functions: TurnOn, TurnOff, and Wait. They then had to use the functions in the proper order and with the correct arguments to simulate a stoplight. When done correctly, the program would run as demonstrated in the video below.

The second demo utilized x-y coordinate systems to draw a house. The girls were given a template project that contained a partially completed house. It was up to them to draw the remaining pieces with the proper coordinates. The last step was to color in the image using RGB values.

Take-Home USBs

After each session was over, the girls got to take home a USB that contained their stoplight project, their house project, and the Processing software. The goal was to encourage them to continue developing their programming capabilities outside of the EYH workshop.

Overall, the conference was a great experience, and hopefully, the girls enjoyed it as much as we did. As a company with a strong female presence, DMC is happy to foster young women and encourage them to pursue careers in STEM.

Learn more about DMC’s company culture. 

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Decent, affordable housing opportunities matter for our Chicago neighbors and Habitat for Humanity not only aids in building the homes, but they contribute to the purchase of the house and help with education on home maintenance and financial management.

This is why nine of our employees bundled up on a blistery, fall day to pitch in. We also committed to fundraising to keep the homes built with Habitat for Humanity affordable to their future owners.

The Where and Why of Habitat for Humanity

We worked on a house located in the West Pullman area of Chicago, a neighborhood on the far South Side of Chicago. Habitat for Humanity selected the area because it is a middle market neighborhood with strong community ties, but there have been some disinvestments in commercial and residential properties which could cause a housing decline in the future.

Having a healthy housing market in the neighborhood is crucial since it can create a chain reaction of positive improvements like greater pride in the area, more jobs, better image, etc. The end goal of all these improvements is to have a safer neighborhood with a strong sense of community that will be able to thrive.

Getting Down to the Business of Building

The DMC team arrived at the construction site early on a chilly, Saturday morning. We met with other volunteers and our site supervisors. Everyone was eager to get to work! Volunteers were split up doing a variety of work including painting, electrical wiring, framing, etc.

Our team worked on the flooring and structural parts of two households. The site supervisors taught us how to properly do a variety of skills such as using a nail gun, cutting wood, laying down flooring, etc. After the supervisors gave us assignments, we went straight to work! 

They assisted us with any questions we had and gave us pointers and corrections whenever it was necessary. Most of the work consisted of carrying the wood to the house and getting it up the second floor, laying it out on the structure and then gluing and nailing it down.

As easy as it sounds, it was a lot of hard work!

Making a Difference with DMCares 

One of the best parts of working at DMC is the fact that we can find volunteering opportunities such as this and DMC will match our monetary contribution. It was a lot of fun volunteering with (awesome) coworkers who want to help the community by getting their hands a little dirty. Knowing that someone will call this house their home one day and that we had a small part to do with it was well worth the time and effort.

Thank you to Habitat for Humanity for all the work you do and for allowing us to help!

Quote of the Day

Heather: “Where’s your selfie stick?!”

Eddie stretches his arm out

Eddie: “RIGHT HERE.”

Wish you were making a difference with DMC in a great workplace? Check out our careers page!

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Our super awesome engineering team came up with four fun-filled activities that gave the students a glimpse into the life of an engineer.

CAD Creations

In this class, we introduced students to basic CAD design and how it applies to real-world applications. The students created boxes with their names on them to introduce the concepts of extruding and cutting. At the end of the session we printed the students’ boxes using DMC’s 3D Printer.

Electronics Exercise 

DMC introduced students to the world of electronics and programming through a small exercise with the BBC micro:bit. Students used a graphical programming language to read button presses, show messages on an LED display and even wirelessly send messages to their friends. The functionality implemented in the exercise related to real world products and the type of product development that DMC performs for its customers.

Consulting Challenge

We put a twist on the traditional “Build a Bridge Challenge” to give the students a better idea of what DMC does as consultants. Given limited time, budget, and construction materials, the students we asked to design and deliver a support bridge for a demanding client while trying to mitigate budget increases.

Lego Team Activity

This activity tested the students’ abilities to work with others to achieve a common goal. It sounds like an easy test, but challenging obstacles and time constraints made this harder than it seemed for the students.

Sharing STEM

The students who participated in the workshop had fun and learned about the real world of engineering and consulting at DMC. One of the participants, Javontay Peoples, left with this to say:

“Our trip to DMC was one of the best experiences we have had with CIW. The entire day was planned out very well and each of my peers walked away learning something new. The staff members were awesome and they made us feel right at home as they walked us through the various parts of their work and taught us different skills for the future. I can see why DMC is voted one of the best places to work because once I walked through the door I knew I was gonna have a great time.”

We had a wonderful afternoon interacting with the students and hopefully inspiring an interest in STEM fields. Thanks to CIW You(th) for visiting DMC!

To learn more about DMC Cares, check out these articles.

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I’ll never forget opening it to find $500 and instructions to make an impact in Chicago by “paying it forward.” My team thought a lot about causes that were important to us and went all over the city to distribute the money to each cause.

Hello Healthy Start

In my personal life, I’ve volunteered with an organization called Chicago Cares several times. They offer several ways to get involved. I’ve stuck to the opportunities that involve children, because I find that I have a lot in common with them.

DMC found a very cool program through Chicago Cares called Healthy Start and rallied a crew to visit Oakley Square after work one afternoon. Healthy Start’s mission is to introduce cooking and eating healthy foods to children used to cafeteria food or fast food for most of their meals, which I can definitely relate to.

Even though I brought little to no cooking skills to the table, I brought lots of enthusiasm. I was really excited to interact with such awesome kids.

A Recipe of Sorts

Everyone wanted to be involved, which definitely did not result in there being too many cooks in the kitchen.

The energy was contagious as we proceeded to chop up vegetables and throw them into bowls.

Next, we cracked open four dozen eggs, a crowd favorite.

Finally, we put the veggies in a pan, poured the eggs over top and stuck the pans in the oven.

Making Friends

While we waited, we got to know each other. Ryan Yu had a hilarious conversation with a group of the kids about a TV show that he used to watch as a kid (and is apparently still going strong today). Jordan showed off his origami skills. Heather and Grant helped the cleanup team, and I ended up refereeing some sort of race.

The Results

Soon, the timers went off and we opened the ovens to find a bunch of delicious veggie bakes. To be honest, the bakes got mixed reviews. However, we all learned how easy and fun it is to make a healthy, home-cooked meal.

It’s so easy, even I could do it!

Explore some other DMC Cares adventures we’ve been on in Chicago and around the US.

Wish you were with us, helping too? Check out our Careers Page to view our open positions. We are always looking for great additions to DMC!

Learn more about the DMC Cares volunteer initiative. 

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From headline stories about Mattress Mack, JJ Watt, and the Cajun Navy, to the smaller news stories that may go unnoticed, it’s been amazing to see the city band together and come to each other’s aid. In my neighborhood, we received 41.25″ of rain in just over three days. While I was fortunate to stay dry, I had neighbors just blocks away with their homes entirely flooded.

Throughout our neighborhood, everyone was out in boats, canoes, kayaks, jet skis, and even floating air mattresses down the streets to help those who were flooded get to safety. This wasn’t even after the hurricane left – this is while the rain was still falling. The picture below shows what our neighborhood (Meyerland/Westbury area of Houston) looked like Sunday morning (8/27).

DMC was fortunate in that our Houston based team dodged the worst of it and came away largely unscathed, but we’ve all been finding ways to help out. However, with the Labor Day holiday now past and Houston largely heading back to work, the available pool of volunteers has been dropping fast, so DMC decided to shut down for the day, fill some of the voids, and help where we could.

Helping Out with Harvey Relief Hub

We were able to connect with the Harvey Relief Hub, a local volunteer-led hub for hurricane assistance that is based near our Houston office. While we were unsure of what we would be doing, they were in need of volunteers and said they could find a place for us to help out. We arrived at their donation intake center/distribution center at 7:30 am on September 6th and were immediately put to work.

Harvey Relief Hub has had a steady stream of donations coming in and needed help sorting and distributing the items throughout the facility. They were using a warehouse to set up a temporary supply ‘store’ (everything was free) where people affected by the hurricane could come in and ‘shop’ for their needs. It was divided into sections: Cleaning Supplies, Food, Water, Toiletries, Diapers, Clothing, Household Items, etc.

While there were a large number of families that came in to find what they needed, other groups emailed or phoned in their needs and volunteers pulled together the supplies to either be delivered or picked up. This included other relief distribution centers that had specific needs like “Size 1 Diapers and Wipes” or “Bleach, Flat Shovels, and Mosquito Repellent.”

What Else Can We Do?

In addition to relief supplies, the Harvey Relief Hub also works to connect volunteers with community members in need. Anyone can send in a request through their website or through email and the Relief Hub will try to match up volunteers. One request they received was from a family in the Barker Cypress area of Houston in need of assistance to help clean out their home. They had been flooded during the hurricane and were unable to return, because of the high waters, for over a week. Without knowing much more, we volunteered to help and headed west on I-10.

Tearing it Down to Build it Back Up

Upon arriving, it was easy to see the entire area had been flooded. Some buildings had been marked as “OK” by first responders as they had gone through the neighborhood making sure everyone was out. Most of the houses saw close to 3′ of water and the home we arrived to clean out had 2-3′ of water. However, we saw high water marks as high as 5′ in some areas.

The couple who owned the home had lived there for nearly 40 years and never before had any water damage, but were now in the process of pulling out every piece of furniture they owned out of the house to start cleaning it out.

Our team of six was able to pretty quickly tear out all of the carpet and carpet pads from the remaining inch or two of standing water in the house. This allowed the last of the water to start draining out. With some of us removing doors, door frames, baseboards, and drywall while others pulled wheel barrows and large trash cans of debris out to the curb, we were able to tear the house down to the studs in a matter of hours.

While there was still an enormous amount of work to be done, even in this house, it did feel good to be able to help out a family that was left in such disarray. The best part of the day was taking a break from the demolition to drink some Gatorade and eat pizza with some Houstonians we had never before met. Even surrounded by 6 and 8-foot piles of drywall, furniture, and insulation, the family was able to take the time to share some stories and laughs with our team.

DMC Cares

We couldn’t have imagined that when we began our DMC Cares and gift matching initiatives it would lead us to help clean up after a historic hurricane and rainfall. The program is part of DMC’s continued work to help qualified non-profit organizations that benefit the communities in which DMC employees live and work. While we couldn’t prepare for the rain, we can prepare to help and hope to continue to do so.

How You Can Help

If you’re looking to provide help, either as a company or an individual, consider donating to one of the many relief organizations doing great work around Houston. We can personally vouch that the Harvey Relief Hub is doing good things. The Red Cross, Salvation Army, Houston Foodbank, and J.J. Watt are all doing great things as well.

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The Greater Chicago Food Depository distributes about 160,000 meals a day to hungry Chicagoans, and we were happy to lend a hand to help our neighbors.

Lending a Hand in Our Favorite City Ziti

Upon arriving at GCFD, we completed orientation before volunteers were split into two groups. Half of the volunteers were assigned to package apples, while the other half (including all the volunteers from DMC) were packaging macaroni. Sanitation and cleanliness are important at the GCFD, so after following the protocol for handling and packaging food (including putting on beard nets), we were ready to start our work.

Moving Macaroni at the Speed of Light

We realized the scale of the GCFD when we saw that we weren’t just scooping macaroni, we were shoveling it.

The macaroni came in 2-ton boxes that had to be opened and shoveled into smaller boxes. So, armed with macaroni shovels, we got to work.

Every DMCer had a role — whether it was making boxes, bagging pasta, moving boxes, or shoveling macaroni, the work was truly a team effort. After the mountain of macaroni was packaged into smaller boxes, these boxes were distributed to volunteers at stations who had scales, scoops, and a machine that sealed bags.

These volunteers weighed out 3 pounds of macaroni per bag, sealed each bag, and then passed it to the next station. Twelve of these bags were then packaged into one box, which was taped shut, labeled, and moved onto a pallet.

After a Few Hours Orzo of Work…

We helped package and load about nine pallets worth of pasta — almost 10,000 pounds! Combined with the other volunteers packaging apples, we had prepared nearly 20,000 pounds of food to be sent to organizations helping those in need.

I feel like everyone genuinely had a good time. It was fun to spend quality time with my co-workers while helping feed our local Chicagoans. I look forward to planning more charitable events (although this one might be impastable to beat)!

– Heather Talbert

The Risoni-ng Behind DMC Donation Matching

As one of Chicago's Best Places to Work, DMC is always looking for ways to improve. We recently announced a new charitable match program, and the PAWS 5K run that DMC attended earlier this summer was the first time it was put into action!

The DMC matching gift program is part of DMC's continuing efforts to support qualifying nonprofit organizations that benefit the communities in which DMC employees live and work.

Check out other fun events that are going on at DMC.

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The dog to human ratio was very close to 50/50, and the air was filled with the sounds of lots of happy yips, barks, and panting.

What is PAWS?

Nearly 9,000 cats and dogs are euthanized in Chicago each year because they don’t have a home, but PAWS Chicago finds homes for healthy and treatable pets.

Since PAWS was founded in 1997, the number of homeless animals euthanized per year in Chicago has dropped more than 80 percent.

In 2016, PAWS Chicago found homes for over 5,100 homeless pets, so all the walking was definitely worth it!

Why Walk with PAWS?

Due to the generous donations of the PAWS 5k Walk/Run sponsors, 100% of the money raised at the PAWS 5K goes to, “helping PAWS Chicago provide vital medical care, food, and shelter to thousands of homeless pets this year.”

This is fantastic since PAWS receives no government funding and relies solely on the support of animal lovers to help take care of Chicago’s homeless animals.

“I think this is an awesome opportunity to support a local no-kill shelter!” said Heather Talbert, who helped organize DMC’s participation.

There were tons of free dog treats and toys as well as snacks that we stocked up on before setting off on our walk. A few of us even spun a raffle wheel and won tickets to a Chicago White Sox game!

DMC Donation Matching

As DMC continues to be one of  Chicago’s Best Places to Work, we are always looking for ways grow and improve. Last year, we held a fun day of charitable giving called DMC Cares. We recently announced a new charitable match program, and the PAWS 5K was the first time it was put into action!

The DMC matching gift program is part of DMC’s continuing efforts to support qualifying non-profit organizations that benefit the communities in which DMC employees live and work. 

Check out other fun events that are going on at DMC.

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Why Give Blood?

Having not donated blood before, I learned some very cool and exciting facts about being a donor:

1. Of those people entering the hospital, 1 in 7 will need blood.
2. Every time you donate whole blood, you can save the lives of 3 people. 
3. Before our blood drive even began, our donations were ALREADY CLAIMED by a local hospital. 

The point is, our donations were needed, and we were all so excited for the opportunity to give!

Make it Happen

Make it Happen is one of DMC’s core values, and we worked with LifeSource to do it. LifeSource is a blood donor center with 18 locations in Chicagoland. 

After a few weeks of planning and recruiting donors, the crew showed up first thing in the morning and immediately got to work. They transformed our largest conference room (which normally holds about 70 people) into a blood donor center!

We started the donations at 10 a.m. and wrapped up around 4 p.m. Our goal was to hit 30 donations and we did it – we saved 90 lives! 

It was a proud day for DMC; many people overcame their fear of needles, and several employees donated for the very first time! I am excited to say we will be holding another onsite blood drive this summer, and hopefully many will follow!

I feel so lucky to work for a company that encourages and facilitates holding awesome events like this one.

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This ADCM, the fun activity was "The DMC Cares Challenge". The New York and Boston offices joined forces and then divided into teams of 5-6 people. Each team had the afternoon to use $500 to "pay it forward". Since I love creating videos, I took this as an opportunity to showcase some of our random acts of kindness in a video you can watch below. Hope you enjoy it!

DMC's Chicago, Denver and Houston offices also participated in DMC Cares. Check out this blog to see how the Chicago office paid it forward.

Learn more about DMC's company culture.

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This ADCM focused on a few different topics. The day started with small group discussions on our core values and customer service fundamentals. Before lunch, we split into teams for a very special challenge. 

The DMC Cares Challenge

For the first DMC Cares event, twelve teams of employees in Chicago were each given $500 in cash. Teams were instructed to make an impact in Chicago by "paying it forward." Each team was free to allocate the funds toward any cause or random acts of kindness that they deemed appropriate. We tracked the progress on social media using the #DMCcares hashtag.

Guerrilla Giving

"We started with a donation to the Anti-Cruelty Society and a short visit with the cats & dogs. Then we surprised some CTA commuters with by handing out two dozen doughnuts." – Amy Cox

"Our group used the majority of our funds to purchase supplies for a local elementary school where 40% of the kids are homeless. We donated to a soup kitchen called Inspiration Kitchen, and then handed out balloons to brighten people's day." – Christian

"My team went to the Chicago Canine Rescue center.  We helped them walk dogs and then made a cash donation to support their cause."  – David B.

"Our team purchased books written by Chicago students at 826CHI. Then we donated the books and games to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, the largest pediatric provider in the region." – Jessica

"My group identified an elementary school where many students come from families with low socioeconomic status. We bought school supplies (notebooks, crayons, glue, pencils, etc.) and donated the rest." – Emily

"My team brought food and personal supplies to the Lakeview Food Pantry. Next, we helped someone move into their apartment."  – Jimmy B.

"We did a bunch of small things to brighten people’s days including giving out lunches from Subway on the subway (actually the L), and giving free ice cream to families in Millennium Park. We handed out dollar bills in exchange for a smile on the L." – Beth

"We purchased toys for patients at a children's hospital, dropped off some treats at the police department, and made a donation to the Humane Society." – Caleb

"My team first went to PetSmart and Target to purchase toys, food, and towels for dogs and cats at the PAWS shelter. Next, we picked up doughnuts at Dunkin Doughnuts to bring to the police station in Wrigleyville."  – Natalie

"We bought some basic groceries like toiletries and fruit and handed them out to homeless people. We also saw a car getting a parking ticket so we put the last $12 we had into the envelope with a note expressing our sympathy." – Mark

"We assembled care packages in reusable bags with food and personal care items and walked through East Lakeview, offering the packages to homeless individuals. Then we prepaid the deposit for two children’s engineering classes at Robot City Workshop." – Parker

"Our team split the budget between two organizations: Nettelhorst School and Lincoln Park Community Shelter. We bought school supplies for the school and needed items for the shelter (toiletries, undergarments, medicine, etc.)." – Stephanie

Result

The DMC Cares activity was a highlight of the day for many employees. We enjoyed bonding with our colleagues while learning more about the causes that are important to everyone at DMC. In just a few hours, we donated $6,000 back to the community. It felt great to come together and do some good to support fantastic organizations as well as our fellow Chicagoans. Our first DMC Cares event will be a great foundation for future charitable initiatives across our office locations.

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