National Engineer's Week

[controlnovice]

Who knew? Why not send a notice a few weeks in advance instead of the last day of the week? I just recieved this today from the Texas Board of Professional Engineeers. I realize it does state that schools would welcome engineers at any time, but it would've been nice to have been notified. We could've warned all the kids to avoid the profession!!

It is said engineers are in the most unrecognized occupation in the world, yet we are the ones most important to the quality of modern life and advancement of mankind (see

http://www.eweek.org).

National Engineers Week is almost over and many area schools would love to have engineers come and visit their classes - not just during this week, but at any time. Participating in this kind of outreach is a wonderful way to introduce young minds to engineering.

Celebrate engineering by reinforcing its future in our schools. You can change a life.

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This is normally the space where people post something insightful.

 

[KENAT]

I think my son would die if I went in and gave a presentation on the wonderful world of engineering!

Although they try and nod in the right places when I go off at home I'm sure they don't understand or really care what I do.

In principal I'd like to do something like this, I would have loved the chance to speak to an actual engineer when I was a kid as (except when I was going to join the armed forces or become a knight in shining Armour) I was interested in joining the profession from an early age.

 

[SomptingGuy]

Seconded.

All of my career advice seemed to point towards being a mathematician or an engineer. As a teenager I had no idea what either of them did for their money. I still don't really know what a mathematician does (solves equations?). The only hint at what engineers did was from armed forces recruitment, who used to do regular road shows for school kids.

 

[DaveVikingPE]

I knew a month ago... The local ACSE chapter's newsletter told me so and asked for volunteers.

Too big a time committment for me now, though.

 

[greenone]

Yes, ASCE, SWE and many other organizations publicize this event, and organize visits by engineers to classrooms, scout troops, etc.
There are also lots of events to familiarize kids with engineerings such as GETSET, if you are interested in participating.

 

[kbits]

A few years ago, I volunteered to make a presentation to a local high school during E-week, and it was an excellent experience. Our ASCE Branch uses a slide show with photos, some from around the world and others of local civil projects. Generally, we try to let the kids begin to recognize works of civil engineering that exist all around them. I like to entice and motivate the kids to consider enrolling in an undergraduate program.

A couple hundred kids from advanced math and sciences showed up for the presentation in the high school's theater. They were happy to get out of class for an hour. Meeting them at their "level" was a challenge, but the high school is not located in the nicest of areas. The campus was littered with plastic garbage. The kids were an exceptionally rude audience. To warm them up, I actually elaborated on a cliche by describing their janitor as a sanitation engineer. Despite my struggles to make a connection, the talk elicited several rounds of applause, for reasons I cannot recall. One unsurprising discovery I made, when an image of our planet was displayed across the screen, was that few of the kids had ever heard of Earth Day.

Afterward, although the math teacher was skepitical, the teacher who set up the audio/visuals for the presentation said that he heard quite a few students talking about how they thought civil engineering was worth looking into. I felt good about that, and the kids got out of class for an hour.

 

[UcfSE]

What you should look for is a high school with an engineering magnet program, a program that draws students from several other cities or counties with specialized programs for students who wish to pursue engineering in college. You are much more likely to find interested students there.

 

[sms]

My Dad was and engineer, as was my Grandfather. All my Dad's friends were engineers. I had pretty well decided by the time I was in junior high that engineering was my destiny. I have never regretted it for a minute, and after 22 year I still love what I do, that is probably why it bugs me when people occasionally get so down on engineering here at Eng-tips.

I've done some outreaches to the local schools and I had a great time.



-The future's so bright I gotta wear shades!

 

[KENAT]

Star for SMS. While I am guilty of sometimes joining the moaning and groaning I do love engineering and don't regret becoming an engineer for a minute.

Maybe I'll have to see if there's anything I can do in my sons or the local high school or something.

The local community college was looking for someone to teach Lego robotics as part of their introduction to engineering classes. Now that would be fun, combine 2 of my greatest passions!

 

[BJC]

Here's something you can do. I have usually had attentive audiance's ( considering the age of the kids ) and they do appreciate it.
If you call the local Boy Scout council and volunteer you will get a return call.
There are other merit badges that engineers can help with. Adult troop leaders welcome the relief.

http://www.meritbadge.com/mb/046.htm

 

[kbits]

Like Dave, I wish I had had time to participate this year. There are more high schools than volunteers for presentations. One goal of E-week is to promote engineering to the people.

Our local branch of ASCE organizes annual E-week presentations to twenty local high schools, plus or minus, public and private, in neglected and well-off areas of the suburbs, but the students who are listening are not the only beneficiaries of the "enlightenment".

The local engineering university's civil engineering program benefits with an increase in enrollment. Ours is currently the largest undergaduate CE program in the USA educating over 1000 kids in the art of buildings and infrastructure. Believe me, the professors are not complaining for having to educate so many students. ASCE may rightfully take some credit for promoting the profession to the community.

 

[pyro]

Over the last 6 years I have done this several times in classes ranging from the 4th graders my sister teaches to high school physics to a community college robotics/mechatronics class. I only went to the HS once and had almost zero impact, but I think my talk was geared over their heads. Even the teacher looked puzzled. I showed the 4th graders mostly videos and pictures and did some easy aerodynamics experiments with paper and they were much more interested. Through my young nieces I've heard there are several students say they thought engineering was cool and wanted to do better in math and science. The mechatronics students tended to be ex-military techs or students preparing for a technical undergrad so it was preaching to the choir. I think every profession should do this in schools - if a kid is excited about something he/she will naturally want to learn about it. How much better do you learn when you're actually interested?

 

[65Roses]

Does it make sense to have National Engineer Week during Black History Month?

When I was a school aged child the school system did have people come talk to us about engineering. They stated at the end of their presentation they were setting up a mentoring program for students interested in engineering. I was excited until I was informed it was for only minority students. Why didn't they tell us that up front? I felt cheated! Don't get me wrong I have nothing against minorities or trying to advance their interest in a field of study. I'm married to one. But they made me feel like it wasn't worth their time to mentor me.

Why is my handle 65Roses?
Please visit

http://www.cff.org/aboutCFFoundation/About65Roses/

to learn why!