EWeek 2006 ENews #27 – April 21, 2006
National Engineers Week 2005 will be celebrated February 20-26. Feel free to forward this letter or contents to other interested parties.
1. Symantec Announces Winners of Engineers Week Programming Competition
Students at MIT, Oregon State, and the University of Wisconsin earned top honors for creativity and innovation in software engineering in Symantec’s first University Programming Competition. Matthew Menke (MIT) earned first place and was awarded $10,000; Bryant Brownell (Oregon State) earned second place and Louis Kruger (University of Wisconsin - Madison) earned third. They were awarded $5,000 and $3,000 respectively. The trio also won a trip to Symantec headquarters to meet with executives.
“The talent represented at Symantec’s University Programming Competition was extraordinary,” said Mark Bregman, Symantec’s chief technology officer. “Symantec commends each participant for contributing to the success of this challenging event, and we are delighted to single out Messrs. Menke, Brownell, and Kruger for their exceptional achievements in programming. Symantec remains committed to helping cultivate the next-generation of technologists that will create the tools to enable consumers and businesses to thrive in a digital world.”
The contest was held February 22- 28, 2006. Eligible applicants were enrolled in a university program in the United States or Canada, were residents of the United States or Canada, and had reached the age of majority in their state or province of residence. In all, 196 students entered.
Competitors had one week to program an artificial life-form that survived and thrived in a virtual world. A simple, specially designed programming language was provided, thereby enabling entrants with even introductory programming knowledge to participate. The entrant who built the most efficient and robust virtual organism won the competition.
For more information on the competition, visit http://www.symantec.com/specprog/university/. Symantec is the world leader in providing solutions to help individuals and enterprises assure the security, availability, and integrity of their information. Headquartered in Cupertino (CA), Symantec has operations in more than 40 countries.
2. Engineers Needed to Support Engineering Program for Girls!
As part of its continued effort to address the issue of gender equity in engineering and technology, Girl Scouts of the USA is offering the Fair Play: Design & Discovery Destination event August 6-20, 2006, in Hillsboro, Oregon. During this event 44 Girl Scouts ages 13-17 will participate in an intensive two-week engineering and design program in the heart of the “Silicon Forest.” The girls will learn engineering fundamentals, participate in behind-the-scenes field trips, meet engineers, participate in job shadowing, and create a unique invention.
Destination will engage the girls in the comprehensive Design & Discovery Curriculum, which was developed in partnership by Intel Corporation and Girl Scouts of the USA. The program has been in place at Girl Scout councils around the nation since 2001. This is the first time that the program is being offered as a Destination event.
Engineers are needed to support this event in a variety of ways including special presentations, field trips, instructional support and post-event mentoring. Girls come from around the U.S. and mentors or e-mentors are needed to support their projects after the event.
To participate, please contact Ruthe Farmer at rfarmer@girlscouts.org with the following information: name, contact information (email preferred),
engineering area of expertise, and an indication of how you would like to participate.
This program is offered through the GSUSA Fair Play Initiative and sponsored by the US Department of Education. Many thanks to the Girl Scouts – Columbia River Council for hosting the event.
3. ASHRAE Sections Deploy for Engineers Week 2006
Visit the ASHRAE Student Zone website to see all of the great ASHRAE EWeek events for 2006! AHSRAE sections participated globally! Visit http://www.ashrae.org/template/PDFDetail/assetid/50902.
4. Beyond the Sea
Since the end of February, nearly 20 IBM-ers from Stuttgart and surroundings went back to school. They were not put in detention, but helped students find their orientation for their professional careers. How can I make my own homepage? How can I set up my own home network? These were questions the EWeek Volunteers helped answer in a playful way. IBM volunteers were accompanied by cooperative students who presented their university and gave an insight in student life and provided information about their studies.
"E-Week is an excellent way to give the kids another kind of insight into science. I was thrilled that the kids showed so much interest and enthusiasm in the workshop and that I could show them that logic is part of our everyday life," said Andrea Kapahnke, a young professional from the Research Center in Boeblingen.
According to software engineer Gerald Muecke, “I really felt like I was back in school again. This time, however, on the other side of the desk. I think I found the connection to the kids and could show them that science is lots of fun!” Muecke showed an 11th grade how to set up their own Internet page.
E-Week Site Coordinator Jens Poppe was pleased with this first event which reached more than 500 students in the area around Stuttgart. “I was surprised to what a great extent the concept of the Engineers Week met the interest of the schools. We have set up many new connections and hope to enlarge this pilot here in Germany next year.”
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