Engineers Week 2011 will be celebrated February 20 - 26.  Co-chairs are Raytheon Company and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.  Feel free to forward this letter or contents to other interested parties. 

Contents:
1. Engineers Week anniversary message
2. The Power of Partnership
3. Girls: the G in Engineer Day
4. Today's News
5. Astronaut Engineer
6. Local News

1. Engineers Week anniversary message
The President of the United States has delivered an Engineers Week message.  He encourages U.S. engineers to" out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world. " You can see the complete message here.

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2. The Power of Partnership
Engineers Week's 60th  anniversary is significant not only in recognizing past accomplishments but because Engineers Week has evolved into the profession's broadest volunteer outreach effort with a year-round working coalition and programming. The Foundation supports and is supported by a coalition of some 150 organizations.  Says Foundation Executive Director Leslie Collins, "We like to say that we are collaboration that works.  Working with common purpose, we all roll up our sleeves and get things done thanks to thousands of volunteers."

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3. Girls: the G in Engineer Day
Help celebrate the 'G' in engineering by engaging young girls in engineering experiences. Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day is February 24 and starting that day the National Engineers Week Foundation and national partners will work to engage 10,000 10-year-old girls in an anniversary campaign called 10 for 10. The campaign runs for 10 weeks, concluding on May 8, Mother's Day. The National Engineers Week Foundation will collect information about events and count girls reached. All events deliver the message that a career in engineering is within the grasp of every young woman looking to play a role in addressing the issues her generation will face as it comes of age. In addition to National Engineers Week Foundation, the organizers of the 10 for 10 initiative include National Girls Collaborative Project, Girls RISEnet/ASTC, Girl Scouts of the USA, AAUW, 'Sci-Girls' (PBS), 'Design Squad' (PBS), Society of Women Engineers, Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN), and National Coalition of Girls Schools.

"The vision of this collaborative initiative is to broaden the way girls and young women look at engineering - to help them see the creative and relevant work that engineers do," said Karen Peterson, Principal Investigator for National Girls Collaborative Project and CEO of EdLab Group.  "This year's 10 for 10 campaign is particularly exciting because it leverages many powerful partnerships to reach more girls at a younger age and for a sustained period of time."

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4. Today's News
The New Faces of Engineering are featured in today's print edition of USA TODAY.  These young engineers are making a difference in the world. You can also meet them here.

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5. Astronaut Engineer
Leland Melvin, NASA's associate administrator for education, has given Engineers Week a celebratory shout-out via a video message to young students.  Mr. Melvin leads by example, as a former NFL player, astronaut, and engineer, explaining to kids the importance of STEM subjects and how he developed his interest in engineering.  The complete video will be available on www.eweek.org.

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6. Local events
Santa Clara University, California, has a number of activities planned for National Engineers Week, and the students have extended their outreach for the entire month of February, volunteering to share engineering activities at an after-school program for kids in grades 1-6.  During EWeek, events range from the Solar Decathalon House, to career networking, to Honduran Culture Night,  fun fair, Hall of Fame inductees, and lots of free food!  For the complete schedule, contact Heidi Williams, Communications Manager, School of Engineering, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA 95053, 408-554-5303, hwilliams@scu.edu.

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The National Engineers Week Foundation coalition comprises more than 75 engineering, professional, and technical societies and more than 50 corporations and government agencies. 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, the coalition also raises public understanding and appreciation of engineering contributions to society through year-round innovative programming and celebration.

Previous issues of the EWEEK ENEWS available here .

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