If engineers speak, millions will listen on Public Radio stations

Emily M. Smith
ASME NEWS

Engineers have begun answering the call to contribute to The Voices of Innovation project, which will begin airing two-minute radio spots about the wonders of engineering on Public Radio stations in September. But with the aim being to air different spots daily for a year, a lot more stories will be needed.

In January, the American Association of Engineering Societies, which is sponsoring the program, asked engineers in each of its member societies to submit stories that will help explain what makes engineers so passionate about their profession. Since then, 50 have been collected from the AAES Web site.

Of those, eight are from or about mechanical engineers, putting ASME in the top three. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers currently holds the second spot, with 10 submissions. To date, the title for the most submitted stories — 15 — belongs to the American Society of Civil Engineers, perhaps as a result of ASCE's visibility in the aftermath of Sept. 11.

Ten other engineering societies combined to contribute 17 stories. Engineering stories are also being collected by the program's producer, Jim Metzner, who produces the award-winning "Pulse of the Plant" program, and his staff. They will follow up on every tip or story idea.

The hope is to have enough stories in stock to do one spot a day five days a week for at least a year. But, what constitutes a story in the eyes of the producers?

"Anything that shows a person's passion for engineering," said David R. Gately, director of communications and public awareness at AAES. The audience is the general public, younger children in particular.

The two-minute spots "will key into the passion, excitement and genius that inspires the men and women who make technological miracles a part of our everyday experience," a description of the project reads on AAES's Web site.

The story can be about an engineering design or a person engineers know, Gately said. It can be as simple as a copy of a newspaper or magazine story about an engineering product or project, or an engineer.

Submit ideas online at www.voicesofinnovation.org. Sample stories there will give ideas of what the producers want, Gately said. He can be reached at (202) 296-2237.

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