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EWeek 2007 ENews #24 – March 13, 2007
Engineers Week 2007 was celebrated February 18 – 24, and was co-chaired by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and Tyco Electronics Corporation. Feel free to forward this letter or contents to other interested parties. Contents: 1. Run the Global Marathon 1. Run the Global Marathon The Marathon is divided into half-hour presentations using various media: teleconferencing, internet presentations, live online chat, or combinations of those methods. Presentations include: From Beijing, China, comes a discussion "Is engineering a field that prevents women from being successful?" facilitated by Lynn Z. Lin, Executive Director of Global Infrastructure Services for Lenovo. From Scotland, Innovene engineer Meredith Short presents "From English to engineering: How one liberal arts major made it." Insights into women in engineering will also come from Poland, Germany, Australia, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. From the U.S., high school and college students can chat with the National Society of Black Engineers Graduate Student of the Year. Another session looks at how women can set themselves apart through the professional engineer exam. One engineer will introduce Engineers Without Borders. A special block of programming is dedicated to children and families. Beginning at 7 PM EST on March 22, a host of the popular kids' show "Cyberchase" will be on the phone with a female engineer for a live discussion. That session is followed by a live presentation from the new PBS series Design Squad with "The Women Behind Design Squad," a chat with an engineer from The Gap and then a discussion with students from MIT. Check out the schedule and everything you need to know about the marathon. 2. Because Dreams Need Doing 3. Engineering's Grand Challenges 4. Design Squad Host is Real Deal: Wins Lemelson-MIT Student Prize For the prize, Ball invented the ATLAS Powered Rope Ascender. With it, a fully loaded firefighter could reach the top of a 30-story building in only 30 seconds, compared to the six minutes or more it often takes to trudge up stairs with 80 to 100 pounds of equipment. The device, which is the size of a hand-held power tool, can lift a 250-pound load more than 600 feet into the air at nearly 10 feet per second, all on a single battery charge. Ball's interest in invention does not stop with his own creations; he also dedicates himself to mentoring and advising aspiring inventors. "Coming from a family of teachers and having such strong support from my parents, I felt it imperative to share that with other young inventors," he said. "My parents helped me find my passion early in life and instilled in me a way to maintain it. To help other young inventors discover science is amazing and watching their first moment of discovery is very rewarding." Ball has been deeply involved as a technical advisor and co-host of Design Squad. He helped brainstorm and test challenge ideas that he said would "require clever problem solving, ingenuity, and some classic mess-making." Ball hopes that through this program, kids will be empowered to explore and embrace the elements of engineering that surround them each day. 5. In Local News The Statue University of New York at Buffalo held a week of events including demonstrations for the Buffalo community at the Buffalo Science Museum, bridge competition using everyday materials, lecture series on nano-engineering, and robot battle. The Jacksonville / Northeast Florida Engineers Week 2007 celebration was a very busy, well attended calendar of events. Highlights included two community outreach events - a work day with Jacksonville BuildersCare to repair the home of an elderly veteran, and a Boy Scout Merit Badge Clinic where 44 scouts earned their Engineering merit badge. In addition, 14 engineering societies and companies presented 22 scholarships to high school graduating seniors and engineering students at University of North Florida (over $20,000 given out to engineering students). A sold-out golf tournament, sponsored by the Northeast Florida chapter of the Florida Engineering Society, raised money for scholarships presented by FES and the E-Week Committee. The University of North Florida School of Engineering, the student chapter of SWE, the NSBE Jr. chapter, the Army Corps of Engineers, and SAME all held events and outreach projects. For full details, click here or contact Joseph Watson, P.E., joseph.watson@thehaskellco.com. Tell us what you did for Engineers Week or let us know your future plans so we can share the news. ----------------------------------------- To submit content or comments, or to be added to our email distribution list, please e-mail eweek@nspe.org. All suggestions will be considered. Founded in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers, Engineers Week (February 18-24, 2007) 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. |
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National Engineers Week Foundation
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