Volume 1 Issue 3 August 2005 |
|
 |
 |
 Educating
the Engineer of 2020
A new report,
"Educating the Engineer of 2020: Adapting Engineering Education to the
New Century," has been released by the Engineer of 2020 Project to
examine engineering education, in the broadest context, and ask what it
needs to do to enrich the education of engineers who will practice in
2020.
Originated and chartered by the Committee on Engineering Education (CEE)
of the National Academy of Engineering, the Engineer of 2020 Project
centers on an effort to envision the future, to use this knowledge in an
attempt to predict the roles engineers will play in the future, and to
position engineering education in the United States for what lies ahead,
rather than waiting for time to pass and then trying to respond. It is
driven by concern that engineering students of today may not be
appropriately educated to meet the demands that will be placed on the
engineer of 2020 and that, without refocusing and reshaping the
undergraduate engineering learning experience, America's engineering
preeminence could be lost.
Click here to view the full report and its recommendations.
Civil
Engineer Profile: Mark Reuss
 Mark
Reuss is a Senior Construction Engineer, working at Bechtel National,
Inc. in Pueblo, Colorado. He is responsible during the design phase for
integrating construction needs and knowledge into drawing,
specifications, equipment purchase orders, subcontracts, and project
schedules. During the construction phase, Mark performs field
engineering management.
Mark earned both a B.S. in Civil Engineering
and a B.A. in German at Tufts University. He went on to earn a M.S. in
Construction Management from Stanford University.
As an undergraduate, Mark was very involved with the American Society of
Civil Engineers' student chapter at Tufts. As a senior, he even
initiated a local grade school playground construction project. Under
his direction, the student chapter raised money, purchased the
equipment, did all the site work, and installed all the equipment in one
weekend. Mark enjoys working on side projects where he can work with
kids and give back something to the community.
Mark says that civil engineering students should be aware that math and
science are essential for engineering, but that studying history,
English, and foreign languages are equally important. He also encourages
students to take plenty of software courses, and consider a semester
studying abroad in order to investigate whether international work might
be of interest. Read more about
Mark Reuss in the
Sloan Career Cornerstone Center "Profiles
of Civil Engineers" website section.
Thousands
Sign Letter Asking Senators to Increase Women's Participation in Science
and Engineering
 In
May 2005, a coalition of organizations and individuals presented U.S.
Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and George Allen (R-VA) a letter encouraging
Congress to take action to advance women's participation in science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics careers. The letter was signed
by over 6,000 individuals, and outlined the issues and the efforts that
the coalition agreed must be taken to increase the numbers of all women
entering these fields. In his response letter, Senator Wyden said he had
become "increasingly aware that the number of Americans entering the
fields of math, science, and engineering is staggeringly lower than in
other countries." "We must act to improve these numbers and ensure that
women are given equal opportunities to pursue the careers of their
choice. This is important not only for women entering the job market,
but for preserving our nation's leadership in scientific innovation," he
added. View the coalition's letter
online.
Degree
Profile: Geoscience
 Geoscientists
work on a range of issues, from natural resource management, to hazard
mitigation, to environmental assessment -- to name a few. Geoscientists
work at all levels of employment, from technicians monitoring wells to
chief executives of multi-national firms.
Most geoscientists work in
the petroleum industry, mining industry, environmental firms, or
government agencies. Historically the petroleum industry employs the
largest number of geoscientists and currently nearly 40% of
geoscientists are employed in the exploration and production of oil and
gas. The environmental industry employs nearly 20% of geoscientists,
many working in consulting firms. Mining was once a dominate geoscience
employer, but today only about 10% of geoscientists work in private
industry related to mining. Government agencies employ another 10% of
geoscientists, including most oceanographers and atmospheric scientists.
 The
need for geoscience expertise is increasingly global, especially in
developing nations. It is also linked to the needs of society. This
includes the need for energy, clean water, productive soils, healthy and
productive oceans, weather prediction, understanding global climate
change, hazard-free development of human structures, and the beneficial
interaction of humankind and the environment.
Find out more about careers in
Geoscience and explore
profiles of
Geoscientists on the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center.
Internships
Pay Well, Give Students Experience
 College
graduates who participate in an internship or cooperative education
assignment typically reap two big benefits -- good pay, and experience
that will make them more marketable when they look for their first
post-college job, according to a report published by the National
Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).
Nearly 98% of the employers responding to NACE's 2005 Experiential
Education Survey reported that they pay their interns and nearly 95%
said they pay their co-op students. Employers reported paying interns at
the undergraduate level an average of $15.44/hour, while they said they
pay undergraduate co-op students an average of $15.64/hour.
In addition, internships and co-op assignments give students an edge in
the job market by providing them with work experience.
"When employers are looking at job candidates, work experience is one of
the things they look for," explains Camille Luckenbaugh, NACE research
director. "Employers told us that three out of five of their new college
hires in 2004 had internship experience and nearly one-third had
participated in a co-op assignment." For the survey, NACE surveyed its
employer members. By sector, 47.1% were manufacturing employers; 42.9%
were service employers, and 10% represented government or nonprofit
organizations.
AFI
Holds Screenwriting Workshop
for Scientists and Engineers
 In
August, the American Film Institute held its second annual workshop for
scientists and engineers to help them learn about writing for movies.
Focusing on storytelling and screenwriting, "Catalyst Workshop:
Communicating Science and Engineering" was developed to help scientists
and engineers become more knowledgeable about motion picture projects,
and to encourage them to write and submit scripts. Scientists and
engineers are often needed as consultants for movies and television
shows to help produce pictures and programs with "better science."
The need for Hollywood to
produce pictures with "better science" has been pointed out in many
forums. However, in order to accomplish the goal of producing scripts
with better science stories, an increase in the number of
science-literate writers is necessary. Most scientists already possess
some fundamental skills applicable to the filmmaking process. Successful
professionals in the scientific community often possess excellent
writing skills and they frequently juggle projects as writers do-working
on several disparate projects simultaneously. And scientists are often
required to manage time well and accomplish complex, creative goals. The
workshop taught scientists how to utilize their existing skill sets
within the film and television profession. Participants also had the
opportunity to submit a draft of a screenplay and receive feedback from
a professional reader. The workshop was supported by the Air Force
Office of Scientific Research. For more information,
click here.
2005
U.S. Frontiers of Engineering Symposium
 Eighty-eight
of the nation's brightest young engineers have been selected to
participate in the National Academy of Engineering's (NAE) 11th annual
Frontiers of Engineering symposium. The three-day event in September
will bring together engineers ages 30 to 45 who are performing
cutting-edge engineering research and technical work in a variety of
disciplines. The goal of the meetings is to introduce these outstanding
engineers (ages 30-45) to each other, and through this interaction
facilitate collaboration in engineering, the transfer of new techniques
and approaches across fields, and establishment of contacts among the
next generation of engineering leaders. The participants are from
industry, academia, and government, and were nominated by fellow
engineers or organizations. "Significant advances in engineering are
occurring where disciplines intersect," said NAE President Wm. A. Wulf.
"Frontiers of Engineering provides an opportunity for engineers to learn
about techniques and challenges in areas other than their own. This new
knowledge can spark insights and collaborations that might not have
occurred otherwise." For more information,
click here.
Career Cornerstone News is a publication of the
Sloan Career Cornerstone Center. Click here
to subscribe.
|
|
