ASME Student Sections receive DAG Awards for 2006–07

Mary James Legatski
Center for Leadership & Diversity

Twenty-three ASME Student Sections have been awarded a total of $25,600 in grants through the Diversity Action Grant (DAG) Program. For the first year, four of the funded proposals were submitted by ASME Student Sections located outside of the United States.

The DAG Program, which is supported by the Center for Leadership & Diversity, is a competitive program that awards grants ranging from $500 to $1,500 to ASME Student Sections to sponsor events that promote the inclusion of women and under-represented minorities in ASME Student Sections and in mechanical engineering; inspire K–12 students to excel in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education; or assist minority- and women-owned businesses solve engineering design problems.

The ASME Student Sections receiving awards for the 2006–07 academic year are:

• Cal State Fresno Section, $1,500 for its "Trebuchet Competition for High School Students in Fresno County" program.

• De La Salle University (Philippines), $1,350 for the "Honoring Women in Mechanical Engineering" program, highlighting the achievements of Filipina mechanical engineers through promotional materials, talks, and exhibits.

• Drexel University, $1,500 for its "Greater Philadelphia Sea Perch Challenge" underwater robot competition for middle and high school students.

• Iowa State University, $400 for the "Friday After Class" event to introduce underclassmen to the engineering community at Iowa State through presentations, dinner, and intramural activities.

• Johns Hopkins University, $1,500 to support the "Ready Set Design!" competition for Baltimore middle school girls.

• Oral Roberts University, $1,500 to fund presentations about engineering in local high schools, and a vehicle robot design contest for high school students.

• Oregon Institute of Technology, $1,500 for its "Project Lead the Way," a collaboration with NASA's "Crawl, Walk, Run & Fly" program.

• Rochester Institute of Technology, $1,500 for the "Traveling Engineering Activity Kits" program, a partnership with fifth-grade students at a local school.

• United States Military Academy, West Point, $1,000 for its "Engineering Exposition" program, which introduces college underclassmen and high school juniors and seniors to the various engineering disciplines and societies.

• Universidad del Zulia (Venezuela), $900 to fund visits to, and engineering lectures for, local high schools.

• University of Arkansas, Fort Smith, $500 for its "Women and Minorities in Engineering" luncheon for local high school students.

• University of California, Irvine, $850 to fund an engineering barbecue during Engineers Week, and invitations to minority high school students to participate in the Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) program.

• University of California, Riverside, $1,000 for its "Space and Science Day," targeting elementary and middle school students, especially Girl Scouts.

• University of Engineering and Technology Lahore (Pakistan), $800 to fund a "Science Week" including presentations and contests for middle and high schools in earthquake-affected areas.

• University of Guanajuato at Salamanca (Mexico), $1,500 to support four contests in local high schools to promote engineering to female students.

• University of Hartford, $900 to finance visits to local schools to present mechanical engineering and the "Engineering Days" program at Hartford to expose visiting students to engineering.

• University of Miami, $1,000 for the "BUILD IT" impromptu design competition for high school students, including several all-female teams.

• University of Rochester, $500 to support the "Jack-O-Launcher" competition for local seventh graders.

• University of St. Thomas, $1,000 to sponsor an engineering event for local Girl Scouts.

• University of Texas, Brownsville, $1,500 to fund a program to introduce female high school students in Matamoros, Mexico, to opportunities in mechanical engineering available at UTB through school visits and "Meet an Engineer Day."

• University of Toledo, $500 for a mechanical engineering session to be incorporated into the university's Girl Scout Day program in the spring.

• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, $1,500 for an "Engineering Perspectives Conference" for high school students to showcase job opportunities in engineering.

• Youngstown State University, $1,500 to finance a "Middle School Day" and a "High School Day" to include presentations and discussions for local middle school and high school science honors students.

The 23 proposals accepted for funding met the DAG Program criteria. In addition, many included collaboration with other organizations and campuses within the community, cost sharing of associated expenses, and a method for measuring the success of the project.

For additional information on the DAG Program, go to www.asme.org/communities/diversity/
Diversity_Action_Grant.cfm. Solicitation of applications for the 2007–08 academic year will begin in September 2007. The application deadline is Nov. 1, 2007.

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