EWeek

EWeek 2005 ENews #19– February 23, 2005

National Engineers Week 2005 will be celebrated February 20-26. Feel free to forward this letter or contents to other interested parties.

Contents:
1. National Academy of Engineering Recognizes Achievements
2. EWeek Co-Chair Rockwell Hits the Airwaves
3. Beyond the Sea
4. News You Can Use: Local Events

1. National Academy of Engineering Recognizes Achievements
The engineering profession’s highest honors for 2005 were presented Monday evening, February 21, in Washington , D.C. , by the National Academies’ National Academy of Engineering. The awards recognize three achievements that have altered the course of world history, improved the quality of life for millions, and created educational experiences that have transformed hundreds of engineers into community leaders.

Minoru S. “Sam” Araki, Francis J. Madden, Edward A Miller, James W. Plummer, and Don H. Schoessler share the $500,000 Charles Stark Draper Prize for the design, development, and operation of Corona, the first space-based earth observation system.

Leland C. Clark, Jr. received the $500,000 biennial Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize. Clark was recognized for bioengineering membrane-based sensors that benefit humankind in medical, food, and environmental applications.

Edward J. Coyle, Leah H. Jamieson, and William C. Oakes received the Bernard M. Gordon Prize for their innovative Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) program.

http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/02222005?OpenDocument

2. EWeek Co-Chair Rockwell Hits the Airwaves
On February 24, in conjunction with Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, EWeek 2005 Co-Chair Victoria Rockwell of ASME will participate in a satellite radio tour. She will be interviewed by phone throughout the morning to cover radio drive-time coast to coast. Some of the areas covered include Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Boston, Portland (Oregon), Cincinnati, Buffalo, Des Moines, Tulsa, Grand Rapids, Toledo, St. Louis, and West Palm Beach. The schedule is subject to change.

3. Beyond the Sea
IBM engineers in Melbourne , Australia , will visit local schools and participate in events at local museums for IBM women employers and their daughters. Contact is Andrew Hocking at andhock@au1.ibm.com.

In Trinidad & Tobago, BP is supporting advertising in three newspapers for the new Engineers Week and commemorating ASME’s 125th Anniversary. The theme for Engineers Week is “ Engineers Make a World of Difference.” Engineers will visit five secondary schools with short presentations, videos, and small gifts for the students. Contact for this first Engineers Week is Hafeez Baksh at HBaksh@powergen.co.tt.

4. News You Can Use: Local Events
IBM in the Research Triangle (NC) area organizes a large effort for IBM engineers and engineers from about 100 other businesses. In 2004 volunteers reached 25,000 . Contact is René Johnson at alishar@us.ibm.com or visit http://nc-eweek.org or www.rtpnet.org/nc-news.

South Dakota Tech in Rapid City invites you to a special campus event designed to introduce young women to careers in engineering and science. On Tuesday, February 22, 2005 , Tech will hold its second school-day long workshop for middle school and high school girls called E-Week GIRLS (Girls Into Real Learning Succeed). Girls will hear inspiring and encouraging messages about pursuing engineering and science careers. For information, check out www.hpcnet.org/SDTechEWeekGirls.

On Thursday, February 24, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena , California , will host its Introduce a Girl to Engineering Program for high school students planning to attend college and major in engineering or science but who do not necessarily have a broad view of the nature of these careers. Through Imagine a Space Mission, students prepare for the Mission Lifecycle Tour at JPL by proposing an imaginary “Mission Plan” – from concept through design, fabrication, operations, and data analysis - using provided materials and Website links. The project may be researched further during and after the JPL visit. Using robotic space flight as an example, students will complete the day with a sense of how great their opportunities are, and will know the many different forms of engineering and science where they might one day find a career. Contact is Petra Kneissl-Milanian at pkneissl@jpl.nasa.gov.

A group of 25 engineers - 20 of them women - from Agilent Technologies will introduce 100 Sonoma County , California , girls in grades 6-12 to engineering on February 26. The students come from various organizations such as Girl Scouts, Community Action Partnership of Sonoma County, and Upward Bound. The event begins with a short presentation about engineering and the basic problem-solving process (brainstorming, evaluation, implementation, etc.) to prepare the students for the hands-on activity. Next, the “Who are Engineers” video is shown to teach the girls about the different engineering disciplines. The girls will split into groups and participate in the infamous “egg drop” activity. Each group of students will have an engineer as a coach to offer consultation. Each group has 55 minutes to plan, design, build, and test the crate. After the egg’s container is completed, everyone will break for a pizza party. Then the eggs will drop! Students will receive prizes for the simplest design, highest drop without damaging the payload, and other categories. To conclude the event, a diverse panel of women engineers will answer students’ questions. Each girl will take home packets full of information about engineering, reference material, and some small gifts, such as stickers, bracelets, and other items. Contact is Neveia Chappell at neveia_chappell@agilent.com.

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Founded in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers, Engineers Week (February 20-26, 2005) is celebrated annually by thousands of engineers, engineering students, teachers, and leaders in government and business. In 1988, the National Engineers Week consortium expanded its scope and now includes more than 100 engineering, scientific, and education societies and major corporations dedicated to enhancing the public understanding of the engineering profession and to promoting pre-college interest in math, science, and engineering as a career option.

Previous issues of the EWEEK ENEWS available here.