Advertising campaign promotes contributions made by engineers

This month, the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) is launching a broad-based, intersociety advertising campaign to bring visibility to the contributions of engineers to our society.

Entitled "Engineering a Better Quality of Life," this campaign emphasizes the role that engineers play in enhancing healthcare, improving the environment, and making our homes and workplaces safer and more comfortable. ASME had a significant role in the development of the campaign.

"People recognize that technology is changing the way we live," said Victoria Rockwell, vice president of ASME's Board on Public Information and chair of the AAES Council on the Public Awareness of Engineering. "What is not recognized is that engineers are the ones creating this technology. We hope that by undertaking this campaign, AAES can communicate how engineers are making lives safer, more productive and more enjoyable."

A series of black-and-white ads will appear in middle market newspapers throughout the United States. A complete list of publications where the ads will appear is available at www.asme.org.

Air travel, which engineers make possible, is part of an ad campaign that starts this month.

The AAES Public Awareness Program was launched following a Harris Poll commissioned by AAES in 1998, which indicated that even though the public held engineers in high regard, respondents felt they were "not very" or "not at all well" informed about engineering and engineers. The survey also revealed that the public held a very narrow view of the scope of the engineering profession.

One of the key objectives of the ad campaign is to improve public perception of engineers of all disciplines by highlighting engineering contributions to the quality of life. In addition, many of the topics to be highlighted will be based on the Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century, which were announced by astronaut/engineer Neil Armstrong during Engineers Week 2000. This project took a multidisciplinary approach to communicating how engineering has transformed the world over the past 100 years.

Throughout the campaign, the ads will direct readers to the AAES Web site, www.aaes.org, which will have additional information about the highlighted technologies, and links to related organizations. To maximize the impact of this effort, the ads will be spaced throughout February, to coincide with Engineers Week, which takes place Feb. 18-24.

Funding for this project was provided by the Founder Societies of the United Engineering Foundation (UEF), which include ASME; the American Society of Civil Engineers; the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers; the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

The Founder Societies proposed this major grant in order to make a larger impact. The campaign is being overseen by the AAES Council on the Public Awareness of Engineering, which brings together representatives from 26 engineering societies to work on ways of improving the public's understanding of engineering and how it affects quality of life.

This month, the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) is launching a broad-based, intersociety advertising campaign to bring visibility to the contributions of engineers to our society.

Entitled "Engineering a Better Quality of Life," this campaign emphasizes the role that engineers play in enhancing healthcare, improving the environment, and making our homes and workplaces safer and more comfortable. ASME had a significant role in the development of the campaign.

"People recognize that technology is changing the way we live," said Victoria Rockwell, vice president of ASME's Board on Public Information and chair of the AAES Council on the Public Awareness of Engineering. "What is not recognized is that engineers are the ones creating this technology. We hope that by undertaking this campaign, AAES can communicate how engineers are making lives safer, more productive and more enjoyable."

A series of black-and-white ads will appear in middle market newspapers throughout the United States. A complete list of publications where the ads will appear is available at www.asme.org.

The AAES Public Awareness Program was launched following a Harris Poll commissioned by AAES in 1998, which indicated that even though the public held engineers in high regard, respondents felt they were "not very" or "not at all well" informed about engineering and engineers. The survey also revealed that the public held a very narrow view of the scope of the engineering profession.

The automobile is an engineering contribution that will be highlighted in the ad campaign.

One of the key objectives of the ad campaign is to improve public perception of engineers of all disciplines by highlighting engineering contributions to the quality of life. In addition, many of the topics to be highlighted will be based on the Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century, which were announced by astronaut/engineer Neil Armstrong during Engineers Week 2000. This project took a multidisciplinary approach to communicating how engineering has transformed the world over the past 100 years.

Throughout the campaign, the ads will direct readers to the AAES Web site, www.aaes.org, which will have additional information about the highlighted technologies, and links to related organizations. To maximize the impact of this effort, the ads will be spaced throughout February, to coincide with Engineers Week, which takes place Feb. 18-24.

Funding for this project was provided by the Founder Societies of the United Engineering Foundation (UEF), which include ASME; the American Society of Civil Engineers; the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers; the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

The Founder Societies proposed this major grant in order to make a larger impact. The campaign is being overseen by the AAES Council on the Public Awareness of Engineering, which brings together representatives from 26 engineering societies to work on ways of improving the public's understanding of engineering and how it affects quality of life.

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