Volume 1 Issue 5
October 2005 |
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 Engineering
Enrollment Discipline Trends
 The
latest Engineering & Technology Enrollments survey undertaken by the
Engineering Workforce Commission, showed that Mechanical Engineering is
now the largest undergrad engineering discipline with 75,319 students
enrolled. The survey found Electrical Engineering numbers remained
relatively steady, declining less than 1%, while Computer Engineering
was down 18% from its zenith in 2001. Civil, General and Chemical
engineering comprised the next largest groups, ranging from over 21,000
to 43,000 total undergrads each in 2004. Chemical engineering showed its
first upswing in over 10 years due to a 7% increase in freshman
enrollments. Within these largest disciplines, women account for the
largest percentages in Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, and
Industrial Engineering (39, 35, and 32% respectively), while accounting
for only 11% of mechanical engineering enrollments.
Math
Unites the Celestial and the Atomic
 In
recent years, mathematicians have discovered an almost perfect parallel
between the motion of spacecraft through the solar system and the motion
of atoms in a chemical reaction -- a hidden unity that has led to
innovative new ways to design space missions.
The celestial half of this unity arises from the theory of "dynamical
systems," which describes how a group of celestial bodies such as the
Sun, the Earth and a spacecraft will move under the influence of their
mutual gravity. It turns out that the tangle of gravitational forces
creates tubular "highways" in the space between the bodies; if the
spacecraft enters one of the highways, it will be whisked along without
the need to use much propellant of its own.
The atomic half, meanwhile, arises from the theory of "transition
states," which describes how atoms are transferred from one molecule to
another during the course of a chemical reaction. The unity exists
because the same mathematical equations apply in both cases--which means
that insights gained from analyzing one class of problems can help
analyze the other.
Indeed, when NASA was preparing for its recent Genesis mission to sample
the solar wind, the agency planned the spacecraft's complex orbit with
the help of specialists in atomic physics, such as mathematician Jerrold
Marsden of the California Institute of Technology, engineer Shane Ross
of the University of Southern California, and physicist Turgay Uzer of
the Georgia Institute of Technology.
For more information on the work of all three scientists, who have
received funding to study the field from the National Science Foundation
(NSF), visit the American Mathematical
Society website.
Statistical
Snapshot of Leading CEOs
 For
the past eight years, Spencer
Stuart has conducted research on the developmental background and
professional experience of the CEOs of leading companies in the US. This
year's research was conducted among CEOs of S&P 500 companies. The
research reveals emerging trends and draws a more detailed image as to
what sort of experience is required of today's company leader. The
most recent study showed that 97% of S&P 500 CEOs earned an
undergraduate degree at a college or university, and that Engineering
and Business Administration were the top two most often-received
degrees. And, 29% of S&P 500 CEOS had earned an advanced degree other
than an MBA.
Leading CEOs also continued to get younger when compared to their
predecessors. The average age for S&P 500 CEOs decreased from 56 years
in 2003 to 55 years in 2004. Twenty-five years ago, the average age of
leading U.S. CEOs was 59 years. 21% of CEOs are under age 50, compared
with 19% last year. For more details,
click here.
Degree
Profile: Biology
 Biologists
study living organisms: how they grow, reproduce, and interact among
themselves and with their environment. Specialization in a particular
aspect of biology is common (for example, neuroscience, which includes
study of the brain, sensory perception, and nerve cell signaling).
Regardless of the area of specialization, in modern biology full
understanding of a process requires integrating studies at many levels
of organization: populations, individual organisms, organ systems,
cells, and molecules.
Biologists carry out
research in universities, government laboratories, and industry. The
research may be "basic," exploring a fundamental question to further our
understanding of life processes. Such research may be in the laboratory
or "in the field." Research may also be "applied," seeking to develop a
new or better drug or biological pesticide, a new vaccine, or a way to
conserve an endangered species, for example. Biologists in universities
teach in addition to conducting research. These biologists must seek
grant support for their research, from government or foundations.
 Most
biological scientists are further classified by areas of focus. The
following is a list of several major specialty areas within
Biology: Biochemistry,
Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, Biophysics, Cell and Molecular
Biology, Ecology/Environmental Science, Entomology, Genetics,
Immunology, Marine and Aquatic Biology, Microbiology, Neuroscience,
Nutrition and Food Science, Pharmacology, Physiology. Find out more
about Careers in Biology on the
Sloan Career Cornerstone Center.
Mathematician
Profile: Bonita Saunders
 Bonita
Saunders is a Mathematician working as a member of the Information
Technology Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST), in Gaithersburg, MD. NIST is a government agency that
conducts theoretical and applied research designed to advance scientific
technology, improve measurement standards, and strengthen the
competitiveness of U.S. industries in the international market.
Currently Dr. Saunders is managing the development of graphs and
visualizations for the NIST Digital Library of Mathematical Functions (DLMF)
Project. Renowned mathematicians throughout the United States and abroad
are involved in this large scale project to completely rewrite the
widely used National Bureau of Standards Handbook of Mathematical
Functions edited by Abramowitz and Stegun and first published in 1964.
Dr. Saunders is using her
research in numerical grid generation, a primary tool used in
computational fluid dynamics to solve partial differential equations
over oddly shaped regions such as airplane wings, to develop accurate
plots of high level mathematical functions defined over complex multipy
connected domains. Grid generation uses several mathematical techniques,
including calculus, differential geometry, and numerical analysis. "One
thing I've noticed since I've been in my position is that I've used just
about all the math I've learned," Dr. Saunders says. "I can't say that
there's anything I've taken, any math course I've taken that was
completely irrelevant. It just seems like sooner or later, everything is
important."
In addition to performing her research-related work, Dr. Saunders
publishes the results of her research in scientific journals and
conference reports, and presents talks at technical conferences and
workshops. In 2001 Dr. Saunders was invited by the National Association
of Mathematicians (NAM) to present the Claytor Lecture at the Joint
Mathematics Meetings in honor of W. W. Schieffelin Claytor, the fourth
African American to earn a Ph.D. in Mathematics, and one of the first to
publish mathematics outside of his thesis.
Read more about Bonita
Saunders in the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center "Profiles
of Mathematicians" website section.
Seventh-
and Eighth-Graders Use Engineering to Tackle Challenge
 As
common as crabgrass but not nearly so easy to eradicate, small,
abandoned strip malls are a vexing social problem for engineers and city
planners. For tens of thousands of middle school students, however, it's
just another challenge they have to conquer in the 2006 National
Engineers Week Future City Competition. Sponsored by the nation's
professional engineering community, the competition asks students,
working in teams and under the guidance of a teacher and a volunteer
engineer mentor, to design and build a future city as a way to hone
their math, science, and engineering skills.
Abandoned strip malls,
usually treeless parking lots fronting a row of shuttered storefronts,
are a nationwide problem. So how, exactly, does a middle school student
convert a five-acre rectangular lot, boasting an empty grocery store,
restaurant and gas station, into a viable mixed-use development
consisting of retail and residential complexes?
It won't be easy, admits
Carol Rieg, Future City National Director, but, she says, that's
entirely the point. "Future City purposely gives middle school students
challenges big enough to cause even the experts to scratch their heads,"
says Rieg, who has been with the competition since it began with a
handful of middle schools in 1992.
The Sloan Career Cornerstone Center offers links to Future City and many
other programs and projects that help precollege students participate in
engineering experiences. These programs give students a chance to
experience engineering and network with other students and
professionals. Visit the PreCollege
section of the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center for more details.
i-Schools
Conference
At major universities across
the nation, a revolution is under way in teaching and learning in
information technology. Discipline lines are being crossed, and a whole
new breed of information school -- "i-school" -- is emerging. In
response, more than 250 deans, faculty members and students from across
the country converged at Penn State University in late September for the
First Conference of the i-School Community. At the event,
representatives from 18 i-schools met to seek a common understanding of
what makes the i-schools unique, what they offer society, and the
challenges they face. Dean Raymond von Dran, Syracuse University School
of Information Studies, explains: "Information is central to our way of
life in the 21st century. Creating systems, processes and infrastructure
that deliver information in an anytime- anywhere environment is so
complex, it calls upon individuals who have been immersed in an
interdisciplinary education to provide viable and effective working
solutions." The emergence of the i-schools has not gone unnoticed by
savvy employers, who are looking for leadership and problem-solving
abilities, along with technology skills from 21st century graduates. The
conference was sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation; for
more information, click here.
Career Cornerstone News is a publication of the
Sloan Career Cornerstone Center. Click here
to subscribe.
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