Community Involvement 21

[pippey]

I am a young engineer looking for some form of community involvement. I wold like to volunteer somewhere that is interesting to me and leaves me fulfilled having done it.

As fellow engineers, I think you understand the limited amount of time we normally have available to get involved with things outside our work/family lives. There seems to be a nearly unlimited amount of options, but with such limited time, I don't know where to start without spreading myself too thin.

I'd like to hear about anything you are involved in that is fulfilling to you.

 

[debodine]

If you have an interest in Amateur Radio (often referred to as "Ham" radio) many local Amateur Radio clubs have Skywarn (weather spotting/reporting) chapters and ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) chapters. These provide valuable assistance to local authorities in emergency and disaster situations.

Also our club often has volunteers work as spotters and guides for local sporting/racing events by transmitting important information (including emergency assistance requests) via the amateur radio spectrum.

debodine

 

[rigarc00]

I'm a minority engineer and decided that the biggest impact I cold make was in mentoring inner city kids here in Washington, DC. The biggest problem in DC is that kids are never exposed to engineering like they should be and hardly any engineers ever wants to go back to reconnect with the youth. Teachers in DC have no engineering background and it's up to us professionals to provide that knowledge back to the school system, sad but true. I put together workshops for the students and try to take advantage of all available resources this city has to offer (Air and Space Museum, Nasa Goddard, Andrew's AFB, Naval Research Center, etc).

At the end of the day it's more rewarding to actually spend the time to interact with the student than to simply donate money for any cause. It's really easy to turn into a Washingtonian and try to debate avery single thing you see around, at some point you have to cut through the fat and do something positive for YOUR community.

 

[Rjeffery]

visit a veteran in the hospital or help Fisher House.

The best way to test something is to squeeze it, slowly, until it breaks!

 

[MissouriPE]

Lots of hobbies/interests can lead to great community involvement. Lots depends on what YOUR values are as many have said/inferred. I've enjoyed a lot of both professional and personal development through my involvement in SWE and NSPE. For the last several years my SWE section has paricipated in Canstruction (a design/build competition using non-perishable food items). It is a great way to bond with other members and do something for the community while having some fun. I've also helped with some girl scout badge days through SWE as well as other volunteer opportunities within the section. Through NSPE, I've judged science fairs, helped with Mathcounts, spoken to school groups, etc. These organizations (and similar discipline specific ones) can be a great way to achieve both personal and professional goals.

But I also was chair of my child's school carnival this year. I help with other school activities as time allows.

Heck, my sister the anatomy/physiology professor enjoys dance so much that she is the faculty advisor for her college's dance team and occassionally choreographs for local high school musicals and has volunteered/performed with the community theatre in her area.

So look around your community and see what interests you. Many organizations advertise their meetings/events in the paper, but I'm sure a quick web search on your community would give you a ton of options as well.

One piece of advice: Be careful not to overcommit. Say no when you need to.

 

[Zogzog]

I work with power systems and love engineering history, I bought a house in a historic village and wanted to get involved in the community just like you mentioned then I found this old broken down hydroelectric plant Henry Ford built in 1939 across the lake from my house. Dod some sniffing around and got involved in a community project to restore it, 6 years and about $400,000 of fund raising later we have this:

http://www.milfordpowerhouse.com

Had some good times working on this project, learned alot about local history and made some good friends, too bad I moved before we got it back on line.

 

[rtmote]

That was me, you all get a star from me! Great topic, great ideas.

I am moving to Ottawa next month and this was one of the key questions I have been asking myself and I didn't know it!

Enjoyed it very much
Thanks all!


Robert Mote

http://www.motagg.com