Five Pikes Peak area organizations are coming together next week to shine a spotlight on the field of engineering – and perhaps recruit a few students to join the field.

In honor of National Engineers Week, the groups are joining forces for the first time to make the community aware of what they do, and to gather for a lunch on Wednesday to network and hear from speaker Daniel L. Harpstead, chief technical officer with the Kleinfelder in Colorado Springs and past president of Engineers Without Borders – USA.

“Basically, in the past, we used to celebrate separately. Last year, some of us got together and said ‘Let’s make it a little bigger – something more significant,” said Ed Arguello, principal engineer with Colorado Springs Utilities and president of the local chapter of the National Society of Professional Engineers, one of the participating organizations.

Arguello said next week’s events are meant to promote engineering, show its value to the community and encourage more students to pursue it as a career.

The groups have worked in the past with students at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. For Engineering Week this year, they chose to focus on Woodland Park High School students, and will visit with them on Tuesday.

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2013, the Colorado Springs area had about 6,000 people working in a variety of engineering fields, and the five organizations hope many of them will participate in next week’s events.

“It’s important to promote engineering,” Arguello said. “And for a lot of these companies, we’re trying to encourage them to be more active in the community.”

The lunch is 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Hotel Elegante, 2886 S. Circle Drive. The cost is $20 for adults and $5 for college students. RSVP at regonline.com/2015engineersluncheon.

In addition to the National Society of Professional Engineers, the other participants are the local chapters of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Society of Women Engineers and the Society of American Military Engineers.

Denver Nuggets guard Arron Afflalo, left, works the ball inside for a shot as San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard defends. (AP file)