Societies roll out Engineers Week 2002 plans

A major grassroots initiative is taking shape for Engineers Week 2002 — Feb. 17-23.

Volunteering engineers will be introduced to a special program called "Zoom into Engineering," which aims to excite young children with fun, kid-tested engineering activities from the hit PBS television show Zoom. The E-Week program is designed for 6- to 11-year-old children and is being conducted in cooperation with WGBH-TV in Boston, producers of Zoom.

Zoom is a nationally recognized name — to both kids and adults — that equates learning with fun. The show introduces fundamental learning concepts for success in science and math and is the only PBS program that touches on science for this age group. For its part, E-Week will assist with content for three Zoom episodes centered on engineering concepts and by creating the hands-on activity kit. E-Week also is providing training and tools for volunteer engineers for use in community events. E-Week is banking on interesting youngsters in the chance to work with real engineers to do all types of outreach events — from classrooms and after-school programs to libraries, science centers and shopping malls.

In the training, volunteers from participating engineering societies will learn how to use the new hands-on activity kit that explores the fun and fascination of engineering. Two ASME volunteers will attend a "Train the Trainers" program in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 15. After Oct. 15, volunteers interested in the training should contact June Scangarello, ASME's staff liaison to Engineers Week, at (212) 591-7740, or scangarelloj@asme.org or visit www. asme.org/eng_week/.

Other Engineers Week 2002 outreach programs will include the second annual "Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day," inaugurated in 2001. Though other programs, notably "Take Your Daughter to Work Day," invite children to spend a day visiting workplaces, "Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day" is believed to be the first career outreach day that showcases a single profession. Women are vastly underrepresented in the engineering profession, surveys show, and at least part of the reason is a lack of encouragement for girls in middle and high school math and science courses.

The Engineers Week Future City Competition, entering its 10th year, will expand to 30 sites, up from 25 in 2001. The competition asks middle school students, working under the guidance of teachers and volunteer engineers, to build cities of tomorrow, first on computers and then in three-dimensional scale models. They must also defend their designs to a panel of engineer judges at the competition, as well as research and write essays. Students begin the project in the fall. Regional competitions are held in January, with winners going to national finals in Washington on Feb. 19 and 20.

Sites include Albany (New York), Buffalo, Southern alifornia, Chicago, Colorado, South Florida, Hampton Roads (Virginia), Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Las Vegas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Milwaukee, Minnesota, New York City, northern Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Omaha, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, San Francisco, Texas (Fort Worth/Dallas and Houston), Washington, D.C., and Washington State. For more information, visit www.futurecity.org. ASME sponsors a special award for the best use of futuristic engineering concepts in a city's communications, energy or transportation systems in the Future City Competition.

Besides student outreach, Engineers Week supports the unique online "Sightseer's Guide to Engineering" at www.engineeringsights.org, which debuted on Feb. 18. The site celebrates engineering in all 50 states. It encourages the public to recognize the engineering achievements around them and to understand their importance in everyday life.

ASME members wishing to concentrate specifically on mechanical engineering during E-Week should contact Information Central at (800) 843-2763 to obtain copies of various ASME-produced videos aimed at K-12 students. The videos are accompanied by lesson plans, posters, handouts and other presentation materials. Available videos include "Engineering Is for Everyone," for elementary schools, "Mothers of Invention" for middle schools, and "Career Encounters: Mechanical Engineering" for high schools. E-Week 2002 planning kits will be available from Information Central in mid-October.

back to meetings & courses