March 2005, Issue #38
News You Can Use
You're Invited!
Teachers, parents, students and counselors have a unique opportunity to glimpse at the world of engineering from some of the best in the business. On March 24-25, the National Engineers Week Foundation will facilitate a global marathon for, by and about women in engineering. The purpose is helping to create awareness for STEM issues related to women, including pre-college and college students. At any and all times during a 24-hour period, a "conversation" will be taking place on these issues somewhere in the world. The marathon will be a combination of live Internet chats and teleconferences. Presentations are originating from the United States, Europe, Qatar and other points around the globe. Topics include "Strategies for Success in Engineering Studies" by Southern Methodist University and "Questions Parents and Students Should Ask When Choosing an Engineering College" by Stevens Institute of Technology. See the developing calendar at www.eweek.org. The schedule is subject to change.
Sloan Career Cornerstone Center Website Expands to Offer More Career Path Resources in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
The Sloan Career Cornerstone Center announced that the non-profit career resource website is undergoing a broad site expansion. With support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the site will be expanding to offer additional resources for exploring career paths in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Already, the site has expanded to include Industrial Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and Engineering Technology. Over the next year, the site will further expand to include resources for those exploring career paths in the life sciences.
Cornerstone is broadly used by middle school, high school, and university level career counselors, students, and teachers, plus parents and early career professionals who are seeking objective information about career paths in mathematics, the physical sciences, and a variety of engineering degree fields including mechanical, electrical, chemical, and civil engineering. Counselors and students alike enjoy the downloadable PDF files of all site content. The online
resources include detailed profiles of 400+ professionals working in a variety of industries. The site also includes precollege materials, salary information, employer and university lists, and tips for networking and job hunting. Click here to visit the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center.
New Grads Face Brighter Job Market
U.S. employers plan to hire 13% more new college graduates this year compared to last year, according to a recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. And new grads are also seeing increases in their average starting salaries. Computer science grads, for exampled, posted a 4.9% increase in starting salary, to $51,042. Click here to read more results from the NACE surveys.
The Peace Corps Is Hiring
For more than four decades, volunteers with the Peace Corps have been helping communities in developing countries by serving as teachers, agricultural volunteers, business consultants and the link. In recent years, the Corps has been branching out into technical fields. For a new initiative in Mexico, they have an urgent need for experienced engineers in certain fields, including biomedical device development, electrical-chemical engineering, and MEMS. To get a list of the available openings, contact Scot Roskelley, Public Affairs Specialist in the Peace Corp's Chicago office, sroskelley@peacecorps.gov. Click here for more information about the Peace Corp.
Teaching Teachers Technology
This year's National Engineers Week in February marked the fourth anniversary of an IEEE outreach effort designed to boost the quality of technical education in precollege classrooms. Launched in 2001 by IEEE Educational Activities, the Teacher In-Service Program offers educators lessons on a variety of technical subjects, such as motors, switches, circuits, and simple machines. Click here to learn more.
April is Mathematics Awareness Month
Mathematics is at the core of our attempts to understand the cosmos at every level: Riemannian geometry and topology furnish models of the universe, numerical simulations help us to understand large-scale dynamics, celestial mechanics provides a key to comprehending the solar system, and a wide variety of mathematical tools are needed for actual exploration of the space around us.
Mathematics Awareness Month happens in April of each year under the auspices of The American Mathematical Society, the American Statistical Association, the Mathematical Association of America, and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. The theme for Mathematics Awareness Month 2005 is Mathematics and the Cosmos. More information on Mathematics Awareness Month, theme essays (on the shape of space, celestial mechanics, and the design of space missions) and many other resources can be found at www.mathaware.org.
E-Learning for Teachers
The U.S. Department of Education has brought together some of the nation's most effective teachers and education experts to share with their colleagues research-based practices and proven methods of using data to inform instruction. Teacher-to-Teacher Summer Workshops, recently offered in various locations all over the United States, presented research-based practices that have been instrumental in closing the achievement gap. These workshops were taped and converted to the video-streaming format. All Teacher-to-Teacher programs are closed captioned and can be viewed either on-line or on the Florida Education Channel. These video courses will help teachers experience on-demand professional development to increase their knowledge and skills for improving student achievement. Click here for more details.
Dominion Offers $200,000 in Math/Science Educational Grants
Dominion, one of the nation's largest energy producers, is for the 10th consecutive year making available grants to K-12 schools in its service areas in five states to encourage students to excel in math and science. The Dominion Educational Grants partnership program provides grants ranging from $500 to $5,000 to enable schools to develop and strengthen math and science skills for students in grades K-12. The Dominion Foundation provides a total of $200,000 annually to be awarded to schools that submit successful grant proposals. The grants augment the regular math and science curriculum in the various school systems, and encourage innovation and creativity for students, teachers, and parents. Schools and educational institutions that are in Dominion's service areas in Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia are invited to apply. Applications must be submitted through www.dom.com (keyword: grants) by May 2.
Fired up by Robots — FIRST Competition gives students a taste of the engineering world
Thousands of screaming fans were in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta in mid-April, and they weren't there for an off-season football game. Rather, they were cheering their favorite robots as they raced through its paces in the finals of the 2004 FIRST Robotics Competition Championship.
The competition for high school students drew nearly 300 teams and 7000 contestants to Atlanta from around the United States and Canada. Finalists for the two-day event had been chosen from more than 900 teams from Brazil, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Each team had matched wits earlier in 26 regional contests around the United States. Click here to read the complete article.
