Many Opportunities for Learning and Mentoring Will Make Up Engineers Week 2008 (1/17/08) Engineers Week 2008 is just a few weeks away! E-Week activities planned for this year's event will include IBM's launch of its new virtual reality game "PowerUp," Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, and the Future City National Finals. Listed below are some of the events that will make up the five-day celebration, which takes place from Feb. 17–23. The Engineers Week coalition comprises more than 75 engineering, professional, and technical societies and more than 50 companies and government agencies. One of America's oldest professional outreach efforts, Engineers Week also raises public understanding and appreciation of engineering contributions to society through year-round innovative programming and celebration. Among the activities comprising E-Week this year will be: • The Engineers Week Diversity Council — A new coalition of businesses, professional societies, and academic and advocacy organizations committed to increasing underrepresented minorities in engineering. Founded in October 2007, the Diversity Council is headed by the National Engineers Week Foundation, IBM, and 13 founding partner organizations. For updates on the Diversity Council's activities, go to www.eweek.org/site/About/diversity_council.shtml. • "PowerUp" — On Saturday, Feb. 16, IBM will launch a new 3-D virtual world game called "PowerUp." Players will compete with each other in an effort to generate clean energy and race to save the planet from ecological disaster. There will also be classroom lesson plans associated with the energy transformation topics and an interactive module on the value of 3-D technologies for learning. • Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day — On Thursday, Feb. 21, thousands of engineers will mentor more than one million girls and young women in K-12 with firsthand experiences in engineering. See www.eweek.org/site/News/Eweek/ 2008_nationalpledgeroster.shtml for a listing of Girl Day events nationwide. • Global Marathon For, By and About Women in Engineering — A live Webcast and teleconference running continuously from noon Wednesday, March 26 through noon on March 27 (Eastern Time) at www.eweek.org. Presentations and question-and-answer sessions will be submitted from participants throughout the world, with North America leading off at noon on Wednesday. Created in 2005, the 2008 Global Marathon is hosted by Verizon Business. • New Faces of Engineering — This program shines the spotlight on young engineers and their contributions, providing stimulation and incentive for college-level students, and encouraging younger students to consider engineering careers. The New Faces, who are 30 years old or younger, who have worked on projects that impact public welfare or further professional development and growth, will be announced during Engineers Week on www.eweek.org and recognized for their accomplishments in USA Today. • National Engineers Week Future City Competition — Now in its 16th year, more than 30,000 middle-school students from more than 1,100 schools in 40 regions across America work with teachers and volunteer engineers to envision the future in large, tabletop models of cities of tomorrow. First place teams from qualifying regional competitions win a trip to Washington for the Future City National Finals, Feb. 18-20. Visit www.futurecity.org. • Engineer Your Life — A new campaign and coalition launching on Wednesday, Feb. 20 as part of Girl Day 2008. An outgrowth of the Extraordinary Women Engineers Project (EWEP), Engineer Your Life aims to make a national impact on the way engineering careers are presented, particularly to college-bound high school girls. The Engineer Your Life web site, a guide to engineering for high school girls, is at www.engineeryourlife.org. • "Design Squad" — Engineers Week is an informal outreach partner for this PBS program, which introduces kids and families to the engineering design process. "Design Squad"'s new season includes an online competition run through By Kids for Kids with the theme "Trash to Treasure" where viewers will be invited to find a new purpose for an old item. Contest rules will be announced in conjunction with Engineers Week. More information, streaming video of episodes, and educational outreach programs can be found at www.pbskids.org/designsquad. • "Cyberchase" — Engineers Week is also partnering with PBS television series, the only mathematics series for children on American television. "Cyberchase" is broadcast on more than 350 PBS stations nationwide, reaching five million viewers, including three million children age two to eleven each week. Visit http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/. • DiscoverE — More than 45,000 engineers work with 5.5 million students and teachers in elementary through secondary schools each year through classroom visits and extracurricular programs, using educational materials provided by Engineers Week. DiscoverE's 2008 program materials include multi-media activity guides developed from the PBS television programs Design Squad and Cyberchase. Hands-on activity materials in Chinese (Mandarin), French, German, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish are at www.eweek.org/site/international/index.shtml. • Family Day at the National Building Museum in Washington is slated for Saturday, Feb. 16. Family Day 2008 features Nate Ball, co-host of the PBS television program Design Squad, scaling the walls of the museum with his invention, the ATLAS Powered Rope Ascender. Other highlights include appearances from Design Squad contestants, "Digit" from the PBS program Cyberchase, and dozens of hands-on activities for kids of all ages. More information at http://eweekdcfamilyday.org. • National Engineering Design Challenge — High school students apply creativity, science, and engineering problem-solving and teamwork to help people with disabilities enter or advance in the workplace by overcoming barriers to employment. After competitions across the country, the top five teams go to National Finals at the Westin Gateway in Arlington, Virginia on Friday, Feb. 15. More information on NEDC and other programs sponsored by JETS can be found at www.jets.org. • Grand Challenges for Engineering — A worldwide brainstorming session, sponsored by the National Academy of Engineering, to determine the most important engineering challenges for the next 100 years and, perhaps, beyond. Results will be announced during Engineers Week. Go to www.engineeringchallenges.org for more information. • Discover Engineering (www.discoverengineering.org) — A new engineering portal site for middle school students and educators on the how and why of becoming an engineer. The site includes new videos featuring students building a water filtration system to be used in developing countries, learning about solar-powered homes of the future at the Solar Decathlon in Washington, and a behind the scenes look at the development of "PowerUp," the new 3-D virtual world game, along with dozens of links, teacher materials, and much more. • Awards — The National Academy of Engineering (www.nae.edu) presents its annual awards, including the $500,000 Draper Prize, on Tuesday evening, Feb. 19 at a gala banquet in Washington, D.C. • Visioneering 2008: Designing the Future — This annual event for middle school students in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 16 on the campus of Southern Methodist University, and taped for a later television broadcast to schools nationwide on Channel One. More information is available at www.theinstitute.smu.edu/visioneering. To find out more about Engineers Week 2008, visit www.asme.org/Education/ PreCollege/Engineers_Week_Engineers_Make.cfm, or www.eweek.org. ASME Offers Short Courses in Las Vegas and Houston This March ASME's Continuing Education Institute is offering a host of short courses this March in Las Vegas and Houston. Seminars to be given in Las Vegas, from March 3–7, will include "BPV Code: Section 1 Power Boilers — Types, Design, Fabrication Inspection and Repair," "Conceptual Development and Cost Estimating of Engineering Projects," "Planning and Adjusting Business Strategies," "Leading Individuals and Project Teams." Among the courses to be offered in Houston, from March 10–14, will be "B31.8 Gas Transmission and Distribution Piping Systems," "B31.3 Five-Day Combo Course," "Shock and Vibration Analysis," and "Lean Project Portfolios: Getting More Done by Improving Project Flow." For the full schedule, go to http://files.asme.org/asmeorg/Education/ Courses/Public/12597.pdf, or visit the Continuing Education Institute Web page, www.asme.org/Education/Courses/Public.

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