Engineers Week 2008 (February 17 – 23): Overview of Activities

The Engineers Week coalition comprises more than 75 engineering, professional, and technical societies and more than 50 corporations and government agencies. Founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers, the coalition is dedicated to sustaining and growing a dynamic engineering profession by ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce, increasing understanding of and interest in engineering and technology careers among young students, and promoting pre-college literacy in math and science. Among the oldest of America’s professional outreach efforts, Engineers Week also raises public understanding and appreciation of engineering contributions to society through year-round innovative programming and celebration. Visit www.eweek.org for more information on programs including:

• 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. All of the council’s founding partners, along with many engineering firms and societies, have ongoing outreach policies and programs aimed at increased diversity, but the Diversity Council is the profession’s first attempt to reach consensus to work together and unite those various efforts under a single umbrella to provide for a comprehensive national agenda. For updates on the Diversity Council’s activities, go to http://www.eweek.org/site/About/diversity_council.shtml.

• PowerUp the Game – On Saturday, February 16, IBM will launch a new 3D virtual world game called PowerUp. Visitors to this 3D world will Power the Planet 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 3D technologies for learning.

• Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (Thursday, February 21) – Thousands of women engineers and their male counterparts, directly mentor more than one million girls and young women in K-12 with firsthand experiences in engineering. See http://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 Thursday, March 27 (EDT) at www.eweek.org. Presentations and Q&A sessions originate from points worldwide, with North America leading off at Noon on Wednesday, heightening awareness of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics issues among pre-college, college, and young career women, and examining issues such as retaining women in college engineering programs and the workplace. Created in 2005, the 2008 Global Marathon is hosted by Verizon Business.

• New Faces of Engineering – Highlighting young engineers and their contributions provides stimulation and incentive for college-level students and encourages younger students to consider engineering careers. The New Faces, age 30 and younger, who have worked on projects that impact public welfare or further professional development and growth, will be announced during Engineers Week at www.eweek.org/site/Engineers/newfaces2008/index.shtml and recognized for their accomplishments in USA Today.

• National Engineers Week Future City CompetitionTM– Now in its 16th year, more than 30,000 middle-school students from a record-breaking 1,111 schools in 40 regions across America work with teachers and volunteer engineers to envision the future in large, tabletop models of cities of tomorrow. The teams present their Future Cities before engineer judges at regional competitions in January. First place teams from qualifying regional competitions win a trip to Washington for the Future City National Finals, February 18-20. Visit www.futurecity.org.

• Engineer Your LifeTM – a new campaign and coalition launching on Wednesday, February 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. Three new messages developed and tested by EWEP – creativity has its rewards, explore the possibilities, and make a world of difference – form the centerpiece of the national campaign. The Engineer Your Life web site, a guide to engineering for high school girls, is at www.engineeryourlife.org.

• Design Squad – The Engineers Week coalition is an informal outreach partner for the PBS program that 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, with Intel donating a cash prize to the winner and the opportunity to work with engineers for a day to design a prototype. More information, streaming video of episodes, and educational outreach programs can be found at www.pbskids.org/designsquad.

• Cyberchase – The Engineers Week Coalition is an informal outreach partner for this award-winning PBS television series, the only mathematics series for children on American television. The sixth season of Cyberchase focuses on math in building and sports. Targeted to ages 8 to 12, each episode delivers positive messages about math by teaching concepts in a fun way that kids can understand, centered on a core math standard developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. 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 five and a half 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.

• Drive Time Radio Tour – Engineers Week co-chair Zarina Stanford from the Chinese Institute of Engineers – USA and IBM will be on radio stations nationwide on Tuesday, February 19.

• Family Day at the National Building Museum in Washington is slated for Saturday, February 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, February 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 “crazy cool” 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 3D virtual world game, along with dozens of links, teacher materials, and much more.

• Sightseer’s Guide to Engineering (www.engineeringsights.org) celebrates engineering marvels from the subtle to the spectacular in all 50 states. The public can also join in the recognition and appreciation of the achievements of America's engineers by submitting their own favorites.

• Awards – The National Academy of Engineering (www.nae.edu) presents its annual awards, including the $500,000 Draper Prize, on Tuesday evening, February 19 at a gala banquet in Washington, D.C. The Chinese Institute of Engineers (www.cie-usa.org) presents the Asian American Engineer of the Year Awards, recognizing outstanding Asian American professionals in academe, public service and corporations, in Dallas on Saturday, March 1.

• Visioneering 2008: Designing the Future – This annual event for middle school students in the Dallas – Fort Worth area is scheduled for Saturday, February 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/.

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