Hands-on Programs Convey Engineering's Cool Factor

By Ray Almgren and Lars Nyengaard, EE Times

- - - - -

America may soon become irrelevant in terms of global technological innovation and leadership. Our engineering talent pool is dying off, literally, and potential replacements are staying away because of a lack of interest.

The only way to prevent this catastrophe is through dramatically increased encouragement of science, technology, engineering and math education among our children. But it's not just about pumping money into our schools. It's about sharing with our young ones the fascination of how technological innovation impacts our daily lives. It's about showing them how anyone, including "cool" people, can be a scientist or engineer. We must show them that they can change their world through learning and developing new technologies.

Those of us who are engineers already understand the value of our trade and the opportunities that our education has provided us. However, outside of our circle, there's a lack of understanding of the major role engineers play in our daily lives. Why do our children get the message that it's easier to have an impact on the world if they're a flavor-of-the-day pop star or sports celebrity than if they're a scientist or engineer?

It is certainly no more difficult (or less cool) to become a world-impacting engineer than it is to get one's face on the cover of a celebrity gossip magazine. But this message simply is not getting out. So how do we attract the best and brightest minds to engineering? How do we ensure they can work and succeed in a rapidly changing global economy to help solve some of greatest challenges facing humanity?

For starters, we must inspire them by spreading awareness of programs like FIRST, the Infinity Project, Project Lead the Way and others that move learning from the traditional lecture-style, textbook-based environment to a more hands-on experience that actively involves students in their own learning process and promotes the creative thinking, teamwork and problem-solving skills essential in the 21st-century workplace. These hands-on programs help students see the real difference they can make through a career in engineering.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is changing the culture in our communities to celebrate math and science achievement in the same way we celebrate achievement in athletics. FIRST tackles this goal through robotics competitions for primary and secondary students. Each year, students in the FIRST competitions are given their own "grand challenge" and must build a robot to meet it. Students work in teams alongside professional engineering mentors and gain firsthand knowledge of how to solve problems in a finite amount of time with limited resources.

Former FIRST participant Kathryn Lowe recalls how the program inspired her: "I learned that engineering used the same creativity I used in the arts and applies it through science. When I first saw the device that I had designed and built in action in the competition, I was so proud. I figured, 'If this is what engineering is all about, I should seriously consider it as a career path.' That year, I was accepted at the University of Portland School of Engineering for mechanical engineering. As I learned through FIRST, engineering skill is not enough if you don't have the funds and organization to back it up. . . . a business minor will help my future career by allowing me to understand not only engineering, but also the business behind engineering companies."

Recently, Brandeis University's Center for Youth and Communities conducted an independent, retrospective survey of FIRST Robotics Competition participants and compared the results with those for a group of non-FIRST students with similar backgrounds and academic experiences, including math and science. The study found that when compared with their peers, FIRST students are more than three times as likely to major specifically in engineering, significantly more likely to expect to achieve a postgraduate degree, more than twice as likely to expect to pursue a career in science and technology, and more than twice as likely to volunteer in their communities. This is proof that these programs are resonating with today's technology-hungry generation.

So what are you doing to address the engineering crisis? Today's engineers can be the voice of change for tomorrow's students. We challenge you to ask your school about implementing one of these programs in its math or science curriculum. Volunteer with your local FIRST team, or volunteer in the classroom to help teachers implement project-based curricula. Talk with your colleagues about the best way to educate engineers.

We also highly recommend that you personally mentor a student so a new generation will see firsthand how engineering really does help change our world on every level.

Because if that's not cool, we don't know what is.