CIESE plans K-12 outreach for National Engineers Week

HOBOKEN, N.J. — Bridges, bones, and beach preservation…what’s the connection?

Think Engineering! The Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) at Stevens Institute of Technology plans a major outreach effort to K-12 schools throughout the US to introduce students and teachers to the exciting world of engineering. Programs regarding important research efforts at Stevens and other universities, which aim to solve pressing problems through multidisciplinary engineering approaches, will connect teachers and students in an online discussion with practicing engineers and engineering researchers. A new website and related materials will be introduced to coincide with National Engineers Week, February 20-26, 2005. (Please visit ciese.org/engineering.)

“Many students and teachers are unaware of the impact that engineers and engineering have on the world around them. From familiar icons like the Brooklyn Bridge, to futuristic applications in biomedical engineering, to preserving the shoreline, engineers play an important role in improving the quality of life for millions of people around the world,” said CIESE Director Beth McGrath.

The Stevens Think Engineering! launch will begin with an online discussion that connects teachers and students to Stevens faculty and practicing engineers. The web-based, asynchronous communication will enable K-12 students and teachers to post questions to learn more about what engineers do, the diversity of the engineering workforce, what types of academic preparation is necessary to become an engineer, the varied work responsibilities of engineers, and traditional and emerging fields of engineering, such as nanotechnology and systems engineering.

As a follow-up to the National Engineers Week, CIESE and Stevens faculty will invite national participation in an online “Engineering Problem of the Month,” a real-world problem that requires students to use creativity, critical thinking, design, and problem-solving skills to address an engineering challenge. CIESE will also offer a one-week summer institute, Engineering Research Explorations, for high school teachers in August 2005.

“Solving the complex problems we face as a nation – from pioneering innovations that promote economic growth, to advancing the frontiers of medicine and healthcare to improve the quality of life, to ensuring enhanced national security – will depend on a highly qualified pool of technical talent,” said George P. Korfiatis, Dean of Stevens’ Schaefer School of Engineering. “In order to meet these needs, we as a nation must attract and nurture young students to traditional and emerging fields of engineering. Only by sharing the excitement and impact of engineers and engineering with K-12 students and teachers will we succeed in meeting this critical national challenge.”

Since 1988, CIESE programs and activities have reached more than 20,000 educators worldwide through grants and contracts totaling more than $22 million. CIESE has received accolades from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Science Teachers Association, and others. CIESE’s projects were selected as one of only six technology demonstrations in the category “Improving Instruction to Meet High Standards,” at the 2001 National Education Summit.

n 1993, CIESE received one of the nation’s first grants ($2.9 million from the National Science Foundation Networking Infrastructure in Education Program) to explore Internet use in K-12 science education. This program reached approximately 3,000 teachers from nearly 700 schools in New Jersey with professional development that utilized unique and compelling Internet-based curriculum materials and provided a platform upon which CIESE has built national and international programs.

For more about CIESE, please visit ciese.org

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

For the latest news about Stevens, please visit StevensNewsService.com.