Grants support innovative activities for minorities and women

Henry Baumgartner
ASME NEWS

In an effort to establish and strengthen relationships between ASME and local chapters or sections of other organizations that support women and underrepresented minority groups in engineering, the Board on Minorities and Women is sponsoring a program, called Partners in Mechanical Engineering, that provides grants to ASME sections for innovative projects and activities that support this sort of collaboration.

"Lots of programs and community outreach programs are run by local and student sections, often aimed at middle and high school students," said Sonya Engle, public affairs program manager at the BMW's offices in Washington, D.C. The Partners program, now in its second year, is designed to encourage further efforts in this direction.

The ultimate objective is to enhance ASME's efforts to attract a diverse membership and to encourage the participation of women and underrepresented minority groups in ASME and the field of mechanical engineering.

Last year, three grants were awarded under the new program, and this year the Board has sufficient funds available to accept up to 10 proposals.

One of last year's grants went to ASME's Eastern Virginia Section for a joint project with the American Association of University Women for an Engineering Day that brought in young women from local middle schools for a day of talks and activities such as design contests.

Another grant enabled a local section to participate in a program at Oregon State University called the Saturday Academy, a one-day science-and-math-oriented program that challenged local middle school girls with a contest to design a vehicle to perform a specific function.

A third went to the ASME section at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces for a summer project also aimed at middle school girls: Girls in Engineering: Today Improving Tomorrow.

The BMW program grants between $500 and $1,000 — depending on the size and scope of the activity — to ASME sections on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to approval by a selection committee of the BMW.

This committee will evaluate the application based upon five criteria: Does the proposal meet the Partners in Mechanical Engineering objective? Is it potentially applicable to other ASME sections? Is it innovative? Does it include realistic methodology and budget? Does it have an evaluation plan and anticipated benefits?

Among the organizations that BMW considers possible fellow participants in these undertakings are the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Women Engineers, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. The possibilities are not limited to these groups.

All sections in ASME International are encouraged to apply, but the proposals must be in English, to facilitate review by the selection committee. Sections are limited to one proposal and one grant per year.

This year's proposals must be approved by June 30, the end of ASME's fiscal year. Because the committee will evaluate proposals as they are submitted, sections should submit proposals as quickly as possible.

Early submission will give sections the chance to rework a proposal if it is rejected early in the year.

Further information is available at www.asme.org/bmw/partners.html, or by calling Sonya Engle at (202) 785-3756.

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