May 2005, Issue #40
News You Can Use
BEST Robotics Plans for 12th Annual Game
This year's BEST robotics competition is scheduled to kick-off in September. Student teams from across the country will be given the game objective and a kit of parts that they must turn into a radio-controlled robot. Industry and academic coaches serve as mentors but students lead the decision-making and building. Six weeks after kickoff, teams will compete in local contests across the country. The top finishers will advance to one of three regional championships.
BEST Robotics Inc. is a non-profit, volunteer organization, whose mission is to inspire students to pursue careers in engineering, science, and technology through participation in a sports-like, science and engineering based robotics competition. Local groups or "hubs" organize the competitions and find sponsors so there is no cost to participating schools or students. BEST is growing rapidly with competitions currently in 11 states. BEST started in 1992 with 14 competing schools and 221 students. IEEE partner, BEST now has over 700 middle and high schools and over 8,000 students participating each fall.
For more information about participating in or observing a competition in October, contact a local "hub" or regional director listed online at www.bestinc.org.
ABET is the U.S. organization that accredits college engineering and technology programs. Programs accredited by ABET have met certain quality standards for labs, curriculum, faculty, and many other important areas. These standards are set by ABET's 30 member societies, like the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), which together represent millions of engineers and technologists.
When deciding where to study engineering, choosing an ABET-accredited program is smart: Not only do these programs meet the standards set by the professions, but graduating from an accredited program, employers, graduate schools, and licensure, certification, and registration boards know that you are prepared to begin your career. In fact, some of these groups require an undergraduate degree from an ABET-accredited program as a minimum qualification. You can search accredited programs by discipline, state, and more on ABET's website: http://www.abet.org/accredited_programs.shtml.
ASHRAE — The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers, Inc. is dedicated to advancing the arts and sciences of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration and related human factors to serve the evolving needs of the public and ASHRAE members.
Visit ASHRAE's Student Zone website to find more information on membership, classroom resources, careers in HVACR engineering, Student Design Project Competition, scholarships, and grants, or contact Ashley Pruett at apruett@ashrae.org or (678)539-1212.
Savvy Cyber Teacher
The Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) is offering its annual Savvy Cyber Teacher professional development program on the campus of Stevens Institute of Technology this July.
Savvy Cyber Teacher is designed to assist teachers with integrating and implementing unique and compelling K-12 Internet-based curriculum materials, including our award-winning real-time data and telecollaborative science and math projects.
All materials are aligned with National Science Education Standards (NSES), National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) National Educational Technology Standards (NETS), and assist teachers in meeting
NCLB requirements for "Highly Qualified Teachers." Click here for more information.
A Softer Approach to Engineering
Poor Dilbert. Armed with only a pocket protector and a skinny strip of a tie, this sad little engineer makes his way through a bewildering corporate workplace, socially clueless in a nerd-hostile world. Sure, he's just a comic strip character, but in engineering education, Dilbert represents the problem. "He's the stereotype that engineers have been saddled with forever," says Albert Gray, executive director of the National Society of Professional Engineers. "People have an idea that engineering students just retreat in the corner with a calculator and do math problems competitively." Click here to read the complete article from USNews.com.
New Instructional Materials Educate Boy & Girl Scouts
Learning to tie knots and holding bake sales aren't the only activities for youth groups any more. This year, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts participating in a new Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)-sponsored merit badge program can now earn recognition for demonstrating engineering proficiency. The eMeritbadge program offers direct hands-on technical experience to further the scouts' understanding of innovative engineering and electronics technologies. Click here to learn more.
