Donate for UF’s 2026 Giving Day to Support MAE and the future of Gator Engineers Here:
https://givingday.ufl.edu/campaigns/mechanical-and-aerospace-engineering-excellence-fund
Giving Day is this week and with your help we can make a positive impact on MAE! On Thursday, February 19, 2026, giving day donations will be dedicated to the MAE Excellence Fund. We need everyone’s help: students, parents, alumni, faculty, anyone wanting to support the MAE community. The more the merrier and every donation, no matter the size, helps build a better MAE.
What began as a university-wide effort to celebrate philanthropy has grown into a 24-hour university-wide celebration when students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends rally behind the programs that helped shape them. Across campus, events, pop-ups and friendly competitions build energy around the common goal of making a difference. It might look like donuts with HWCOE, games and prizes with ECE, cookies and snacks with MAE, and lots of smiling faces greeting those who matter most – our students!
What difference will donations make to MAE? This year the primary fund for donations is the MAE Excellence Fund, which is designed to empower many possibilities.
The MAE Excellence Fund supports:
- Student innovation and hands-on learning experiences
- Laboratory enhancements and equipment upgrades
- Scholarships and student support
- Faculty initiatives and professorship support
- Outreach and community-building programs
- Experiential learning opportunities, competitions and design teams
In short, your support allows MAE to respond where the need is greatest, and this fund helps to meet those needs.
And what would a celebration be without a little friendly competition to inspire us? Each Giving Day, departments have a friendly competition to see who can generate the greatest number of individual donations. Not the highest dollar amount, the highest participation. It’s about showing up and rallying support. For the past two years, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering has brought home the trophy, which resides in the department for the entire year with our name on it.This year, we’re ready to defend it.
But this competition isn’t just about bragging rights. Every gift, no matter the size, strengthens the MAE community and helps expand opportunities for our students and faculty.
In this special Giving Day message, Douglas Spearot reflects on the impact of philanthropy and why participation matters more than ever.
Check out what some of students say about the impact Giving Day has on them.
Check Out Some Images From MAE Giving Days Past!
