Engineering Careers Online

The accomplishments of ten outstanding educators from across the United States have been recognized with the “Building the Future Award” by the SME Education Foundation and their industry partner, 3M for their efforts in furthering excellence in science, technology, engineering and math education based on Project Lead The Way® curriculum and inspiring students to pursue technical careers. [read full article at ThomasNet News]

Young Alaska Natives from small rural communities are showing they can excel in advanced university engineering and science programs, overcoming the handicaps of scarce resources in village schools.

The Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program, or ANSEP, started in 1995, and since 2002, the University of Alaska has graduated 149 Native engineers and scientists, a substantial contribution to the state’s skilled professional workforce. [read full article at The Alaska Journal of Commerce]

Can children who do not know how many sides a triangle has get excited about learning math and engineering? Maybe a field trip to an amusement park will do the trick.

That is the idea behind a new initiative from Disney and Raytheon to let children design their own theme-park ride using math tools and then hop in a robotic simulator to try it out. [read full article at The New York Times]

Through contributions of technology and engineering know-how from Siemens, Virginia Tech’s entry is more competitive than ever at this year’s Solar Decathlon, now underway on the National Mall in Washington DC. Virginia Tech’s entry will be among 20 solar-powered, zero energy homes on display from colleges and universities across the country and Europe. The Solar Decathlon is an international event in which the Department of Energy (DOE) challenges teams from architecture and engineering schools to design and build homes that use energy derived entirely from the sun. [read full article at Yahoo! Finance]

The unemployment rate for U.S. electrical and electronics engineers (EEs), which had jumped to a record high in the second quarter, has eased, according to third quarter data just released by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. For the engineering profession as a whole, the rate continued to climb, but more slowly.

The jobless rate for EEs dropped from 8.6 percent in the second quarter to 7.3 percent in the third. Quarter to quarter, the EE workforce grew by 26,000. [read full article at EurekAlert!]

Xavier University of Louisiana and New York University have received a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation to bolster diversity among materials scientists through collaborative research and curriculum development. The award was one of eight awarded this year under NSF’s Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) program and funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

Under its PREM grant, Xavier and the NYU Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC)—one of 31 NSF-backed centers that perform interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary materials research—will develop a materials science research core at Xavier and an undergraduate materials science educational program that will introduce a materials science track within the chemistry program at the New Orleans institution. [read full article at EurekAlert!]

The National Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc. (NACME), today announced that Dr. Irving Pressley McPhail has been named its sixth President and CEO, replacing the recently retired Dr. John Brooks Slaughter. Dr. McPhail’s tenure begins immediately.

Dr. McPhail has articulated a vision for NACME and wide-ranging expectations for necessary changes in education and political institutions to help maintain American competitiveness in a global economy.

“As NACME celebrates its 35th Anniversary during 2009, we will continue to play a central role in building the overall number of underrepresented minority engineering graduates,” said Dr. McPhail. “We will continue to provide scholarships to deserving youth and we will continue to form partnerships with K-12 schools to promote science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. [read full article at Yahoo! Finance]

The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) Institute for Human Development and School of Computing and Engineering announce the receipt of a $1.2 million grant (over five years) from the National Science Foundation for their proposal “Building an Alliance for New Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (KC-BANCS): A Collaborative Model for the Inclusion of Youth and Veterans with Disabilities.” [read full article at pitchengine]

Although dust buildup is among the most serious and common fire and explosion hazards in a range of industries, little is known about how dust ignites or how dust explosions propagate, according to Ali Rangwala, assistant professor of fire protection engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Rangwala recently received a five-year, $429,000 CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to close this knowledge gap by conducting a groundbreaking scientific study of dust layer ignition and flame propagation in dust clouds. The CAREER Award is the most prestigious NSF award for young faculty members. WPI counts 18 CAREER Award winners among its current faculty. [read full article at EurekAlert!]

CACI International Inc (NYSE: CACI – News) announced today it has been awarded an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity task order contract to continue its support for the U.S. Army’s Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC) Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate (I2WD) through the Technical Engineering Support Services (TESS) award. CACI is one of three companies awarded the five-year TESS contract, which has a ceiling value of $900 million. [read full article at Yahoo! Finance]

The U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC), the premier national resource for chemical and biological defense, celebrated the success of its inaugural Minority Undergraduate Summer Internship Program (MUSIP) and the hard work of program participants with a graduation ceremony held Thursday, July 30.

While the college sophomores and juniors shared their accomplishments over the course of the 10-week program with ECBC leaders, distinguished guests and their family and friends, the event also highlighted each of the students’ backgrounds and the research they conducted. [read full article at Yahoo! Finance]

UNLV Professor receives grant from the National Science Foundation

UNLV researcher Sajjad Ahmad received a career award from the National Science Foundation for the creation of a computer model designed to aid in Southern Nevada’s water management decisions.

Ahmad, an assistant professor in the civil engineering department, won a five-year, $430,000 award given to scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers, combining research with teaching.

This award from the NSF is considered the highest honor the U.S. government can give to scientists. [read full article at The Rebel Yell]

Research findings suggest that, contrary to popular belief, engineering does not have a higher dropout rate than other majors and women do just as well as men, information that could lead to a strategy for boosting the number of U.S. engineering graduates. [read full article at redOrbit]

The International Science and Engineering Fair 2010 Association, Inc, which is dedicated to the advancement of science and engineering education among future leaders, today announced that Cisco will serve as the Communications Technology Sponsor of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) when it returns to San Jose in 2010. As part of the sponsorship, Cisco will illustrate how technology-enabled communication can play a key role in preparing students for successful science, math and technology careers. [read full article at redOrbit]

The engineering class going on this summer on the third floor of the Allison Road classroom building on the Busch campus does not look like any other engineering class at Rutgers University.
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In fact, it may not look like any other engineering class anywhere.

That is because everyone in the class is an adolescent girl. [read full article at MyCentralJersey.com]