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. Get Inventive with Cyberchase
2. Watch Design Squad in Your Area
3. In Local News

1. Get Inventive with Cyberchase
Remember to register by May 2nd to participate in a free CYBERCHASE teleconference training on May 9 at 3 pm EDT. For more information, see the April 23 announcement or contact Anne Squire at asquire@nspe.org, with "CYBERCHASE, May 9" in the subject line.

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2. Watch Design Squad in Your Area
Design Squad is now airing on PBS stations across the country! Dates and times vary at each station. Click here to find out when Design Squad is airing in your city. You can watch six full episodes on Design Squad's Web site! Check out the red and blue teams as they create original musical instruments, remote-controlled cameras, and low cost peanut butter-making machines for a women's collective in Haiti.

Design Squad is the only engineering television series for kids. Help us to share the show, Web site, and educational materials by promoting Design Squad in your community.

• Tell kids, parents, educators and engineers when Design Squad airs in your area and encourage folks to watch it online.
• Use your organization's Web site to let others know about Design Squad and link to http://pbskids.org/designsquad/
• Are you leading Design Squad events and workshops with kids? Motivate your colleagues to get involved by sharing how rewarding it is to get kids excited about engineering.

Design Squad trainings and events continue to take place across the country. Next are

• Intel's International Science and Engineering Fair Educator Training May 15 in Albuquerque, New Mexico;
• National Science Foundation's Taste of Arlington (Virginia) Event May 20;
• Women in Engineering Programs &Advocates Network Engineer Training June 10-13, Lake Buena Vista, Florida; and
• American Society for Engineering Education Educator / Engineer Training, June 23 & 24 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Contact Outreach Coordinator Ellen Robinson at ellen_robinson@wgbh.org for more details.

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3. In Local News
On March 29th, IBM Montpellier, France, welcomed 140 high school students from four local schools. The objective was to help the students discover, on the spot and in contact with IBM professionals, the IT engineer's profession, in order to encourage them to engage in IT careers. The agenda was designed to focus on applications very popular with young people, such as virtual reality with Second Life, the PlayStation3 game console equipped with the Cell processor, and 3D visualization in an immersion room.

The program also offered the students the opportunity to engage in discussions with IBM professionals. Two recently-hired young IBMers discussed their own personal development, from studies to employment. During round table discussions with experienced professionals, the high school students were encouraged to raise all the questions they had in mind, about the content of the jobs, career advancement, compensation policy or mobility. According to on-the-spot reactions and evaluation forms, the day was very well appreciated by the students, the teachers and the representatives of the local education authority.

More than 450 IBM Rochester, Minnesota, volunteers are wrapping up visits to schools on behalf of Engineers Week. This enthusiastic group had to deal with reschedules due to snowstorms earlier in the month, but they got the job done. This year, middle school students used their creativity to build a roller coaster. The goal was to build a ride with a minimum of three thrill elements (jumps, loops, bounces, curves, etc.) while also coming to a safe stop. Students received a marble (the orb in which passengers would ride) and several pieces of foam tubing, tape, etc., to build the coaster. At the high school level, students worked with the Lego Robotics kits, but this time incorporated the use of a light sensor into their robotic cars, which added another level of complexity. After assembling the car, the students programmed the car with a series of commands to follow a maze.

Cadettes and Junior Girl Scouts in Charlotte, North Carolina, received a grant from the National Engineers Week Foundation to host an Engineering Day. They began with a tour of the town's water systems and then met with UNC-Charlotte Society of Women Engineers members. The SWE members assisted cadettes with blueprint reading and the scouts were able to finish their Build It Better Interest Project Patch and learn about college life.

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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.

Previous issues of the EWEEK ENEWS available here.

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National Engineers Week Foundation
1420 King Street   Alexandria, VA 22314
tel. 703.684.2852   email: eweek@nspe.org