Engineers Week 2009: February 15-21

Engineers Week Programs

How to Participate

National Engineers Week, founded in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers, is a formal coalition of more than 70 engineering, education, and cultural societies, and more than 50 corporations and government agencies.. Dedicated to raising public awareness of engineers’ positive contributions to quality of life, Engineers Week promotes recognition among parents, teachers and students of the importance of a technical education and a high level of math, science, and technology literacy, and motivates youth to pursue engineering careers in order to provide a diverse and vigorous engineering workforce. Each year Engineers Week reaches thousands of schools, businesses, and community groups across the United States.

Engineers Week community outreach programs and K-12 DiscoverE classroom visits depend on grassroots organizations and local volunteers for success. How can you be part of EWEEK?

  • Design Squad– In Season Two, Design Squad includes a national invention contest, new resources and trainings for volunteers, and special work with after-school organizations. Engineers Week partners worked with WGBH-Boston to develop and deploy hundreds of volunteers and dozens of trainings and special events for the launch of this PBS television reality show in 2007. The show, accompanying Web site and outreach campaign targets 9-12 year olds and is part reality competition, all engineering and major fun. During each show an engineer is featured in a 60-second profile.

Opportunities:

  • Host a Design Squad event or workshop;
  • Use the extensive student activities provided in the student and instructor guides;
  • Promote Design squad to local schools.

How to participate: go to for more information.

  • Discover Engineering ( Middle school students and educators can find the how and why of becoming an engineer at this entertaining and informational website, which features links to related educational, professional, and corporate sites. This site is the portal for a new DVD series for middle school students and includes video clips and classroom guides from the DVD .

Opportunities:

  • Give this URL to middle school teachers and students during classroom visits or community events.

How to participate:

  • DiscoverE – More than 45,000 engineers work with five and a half million students and teachers in elementary through secondary school each year through classroom visits and extracurricular programs, using educational materials provided by Engineers Week. DiscoverE began for Engineers Week 1990. ZOOM Into Engineering (ZIE), specifically for K-6 and launched for Engineers Week 2002, continues to provide materials and programs tied to the popular PBS television show. Cyberchase– Cyberchase is a wildly popular action-packed math adventure for young children produced by PBS.

Opportunities:

  • Visit an elementary classroom and guide students through Cyberchase activities
  • Visit an elementary classroom and guide students through a ZIE activity
  • Organize a group of engineers from your local chapter or workplace to spend a day at a local school.
  • Invite a group of students to spend a day at your workplace.
  • Provide a one-on-one job shadowing experience to a high school student.

How to participate: Go to the online Guide to Developing a School Visit.

  • Engineer Your Life (EYL) – EYL is the second phase of the Extraordinary Women Engineers Project, supported by a large and broad coalition. The National Engineers Week Foundation serves as the Secretariat for this spectacular project, with a message to academically prepared high school girls to “Engineer Your Life: Dream Big, Love What You Do.” EYL is anchored by , an online guide to engineering for high school girls, parents, teachers and engineer-volunteers. A cornerstone of this outreach is a two-year campaign with the National Association of College Admissions Counselors to reach students and their parents at high school college fairs.

Opportunities:

  • Alert colleagues, peers, students to this opportunity;
  • Represent engineers at a college fair;

How to participate: Link through

  • Family Event – Discover Engineering Family Day at the NationalBuildingMuseum in Washington, D.C., continues to break all public attendance records for the museum. Volunteers conduct interactive hands-on exhibitions. This event serves as a model for similar family programs throughout the U.S.

Opportunities:

  • If local to DC, volunteer
  • If not local to DC, visit the site to find information on replicating the event near you

How to participate:Visit

  • Global Marathon For, By and About Women in Engineering – The next “Global Marathon” occurs in April 2009. During a continuous 24-hour period, 48 “events” take place via live Internet chats, telephone conversations and Webcasts from points originating around the globe.. A new format was introduced for the 2008 Marathon, using a follow-the-sun model with six global regions: North America, South America, China, India, South Africa, and UK/Europe. Topics range from encouraging girls and young women to consider engineering as a career, to advising on career paths for young engineers, to life/work balance, and included discussions on the diverse challenges facing women engineers in the global workplace.

Opportunities:

  • Alert colleagues, peers, college students to this opportunity to interact with leaders in their fields;
  • Recommend a speaker;

How to participate: Link through .

  • Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (February 19, 2009) – Each year “Girl Day” allows thousands of women engineers, with support from their male counterparts, to directly mentor more than one million girls and young women in K-12 with firsthand experiences in engineering. “Girl Day” is a 2001 legacy project by IBM and NSPE.

Opportunities:

  • See previous years’ archived reports for tips and activity ideas,
  • Sign the National Pledge Roster with your plans for 2005;
  • Use the “Resources for Volunteers” online guides to get started.

How to participate: Link through

  • NationalEngineersWeekFutureCity CompetitionTM – In 17 years, this program has established 38 regional sites across America and is being copied in Japan, India, Sweden and Egypt. Middle-school students work with teachers and volunteer engineers to build computer and three-dimensional scale models of cities of tomorrow. At regional competitions in January, the teams present their designs before a panel of engineer judges. First place regional teams win a trip to Washington for national finals during Engineers Week.

Opportunities:

  • Engineer-mentor for the student team;
  • Local or national judge;
  • Local or national day-of-competition volunteer.

How to participate: More information is available at (click on the “contact” button, and then “regional competition contact”).

  • New Faces of Engineering – Young engineers who have been in the workplace five years or less, are under 30 years of age, and have shown outstanding abilities in projects that significantly impact public welfare or further professional development and growth, are recognized for their accomplishments in major print media and local press.

Opportunities:

  • Nominate qualifying engineers from your local chapter, or submit a self-nomination;
  • Point to these young engineers as good role models when you make classroom visits.

How to participate: Nominations forms can be found at Deadline is October 31.

  • Sightseers Guide to Engineering ( – This website celebrates engineering marvels from the subtle to the spectacular in all 50 states. The public can also join in the recognition and appreciation of the achievements of America's engineers by submitting their own favorites. This is a legacy project for EWeek 2001 by the National Society of Professional Engineers.

Opportunities:

  • Submit additional engineering marvels for inclusion (Note: Keep in mind the site’s theme of family-friendly attractions);

How to participate: send suggestions to .

  • Engineers Week Web Site () - local Engineers Week program, with a special section for Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, features the New Faces of Engineering and information for media. As Engineers Week becomes more global, this site is increasingly important in making materials and ideas accessible.

Opportunities:

  • Use this site for tips and suggestions when planning your EWEEK activities and local events;
  • Forward news releases from the “Media” section to local papers and radio and TV stations;
  • Browse the online Product Catalog for promotional and Discover”E” materials;

How to participate: See especially the online volunteer/engineer kit:

The kit includes:

  • 50 Ways You Can Participate
  • Organizing Your Engineers Week Program
  • Ideas for Community Involvement (includes a sample Proclamation)
  • Discover”E” Guide: Organizing a School Visit
  • Hands-on Classroom Activity suggestions
  • Media Guide: Publicizing Your Program
  • Planning Calendar
  • Product Catalog and Order Form
  • Discover”E” Engineer Questionnaire & Evaluation
  • Teacher/Student Evaluation Form.
  • Printed and AV Materials – Engineers Week headquarters prepares and distributes a variety of support materials for local Engineers Week programs. Products include student guidance materials, “how-to” instructions, promotional materials such as buttons and caps, a variety of DVDs and video products and, each year, a new graphic/poster to inspire excitement and pride in the engineering profession.

Opportunities:

  • Browse through the online catalog. The Discover”E” section has educational materials for classroom visits, including videos introducing the concept of engineering to middle and high school students, bookmarks for younger students, books, the “Engineering & You” guidance brochure, and much more.
  • The Promotional Materials section features EWEEK logo items, books, and undated items suitable for gifts, handouts, etc.

How to participate: Three ways to request free kits and order other items:

  • Mail: download the print-friendly order form from the online Product Catalog;
  • Phone: kits and credit card orders, 412-741-1393;
  • Online: secure credit card ordering online, “Product Catalog.”

See , email , or call (703) 684-2852 for more information on each of these programs and materials to support them.