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science coursework, they will not be prepared to succeed in high school and beyond.This is especially true for young girls who face stereotyping over “girls don’t do math.” According to a study conducted by the National Association of Engineering, (NAE), “Educating the Engineer of 2020,” the goal of engineering education should be the full participation of women, people of color, low-income students, and first-generation, college-bound young adults. Our nation needs today’s youngsters to be more than just users of tomorrow’s technologies; we need them to be the developers of responsible technologies and products.” In spite of young women dominating the top percentage of U.S. high school graduates, they have shown very little interest in engineering as a career. Boys invent things, and girls use things boys invent.” (Margolis and Fisher, 2002) To address that very problem, the SME Education Foundation began funding summer technology camps for girls in 1997.The return on investment — dollars, volunteers and a lot of soul-searching debate, is now paying off and the stream of skilled workers is moving into the workforce. One of our many celebrated examples is Brianne Maier, who began her educational climb to professional excellence at the SME Education Foundation’s summer engineering camp for girls at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, where she participated for several years as a camp participant and counselor. In 2006, Brianne received the Lucile B. Kauffman Women’s Scholarship and Caterpillar Scholars Award. After receiving her degree at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, she became a packaging engineer at General Mills.Today, she is an Engineer II at General Mills, specializing in optimiz-
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ing packaging and machinery interaction for increased performance.This year, Brianne was named an honoree, one of 14 highly-accomplished engineers — “New Faces of Engineering 2011,” by National Engineers Week. She is a shining example of the STEM-based programs we advocate and fund. It is our hope young people will be influenced by her engineering career and be inspired to follow her lead. In collaboration with our industry partner, Project Lead The Way (PLTW), a nationally-recognized education nonprofit, a STEM-based curriculum is core to our youth programs. Beginning with the Gateway Academy, a summer day camp for sixth- to eighth-graders, boys and girls, are introduced to drafting and graphic design and use real lab equipment in a team environment to build robotic vehicles and gliders and a host of other projects, and having fun doing it. Its success resulted in our providing $815,000 to PLTW in 2010 for its expansion.Today, more than 4,200 boys and girls have attended the Gateway Academy in 34 states. Building on the summer camp technology experience, students are introduced to the Gateway to Technology program in the classroom. In high school, the Pathway to Engineering program introduces Engineering Design, Principles of Engineering and Digital Electronics and Specialization courses which includes Aerospace Engineering, Biotechnical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Architecture, and Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM). In 2010 we began directing a major portion of our funding to Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) programs at 400 PLTW high schools across the country.The course is designed to expose young learners to the fundamentals of computerized manufacturing technology and is built around several key concepts:
• Computer Modeling — using a three-dimensional, solid modeling software package with mass property analysis • CNC Equipment — understanding the machine tools and its operating and programming analysis • CAM Software – converting computer generated geometry into a program to drive CNC machine tools • Robotics — using a robot for materials handling and assembly operations • Flexible Manufacturing Systems — working in teams to design manufacturing work cells and table top factory simulations. The CIM students are taught by master teachers and engaged in rigorous, hands-on, project-based lessons and allowed to create more advanced and innovative solutions to their classroom projects. In 2011-2012, an upgraded curriculum will be offered with an enhanced VEX Robotics Design System which will give students access to real-world robotics in the classroom — alongside their math and science classes. In addition, every PLTW classroom offering the CIM curriculum will have access to participate in the VEX Robotics Competition. We are letting young learners in on one of life’s big secrets: that learning can be more fun than they ever dreamed, and are giving them a future they thought was beyond their reach. In the past 30 years, engineering colleges have changed very little. Strategies for student retention in underrepresented groups are weak or non-existent and technical literacy not being promoted. Today, nearly 30 percent of workers with science and engineering degrees are age 50 and older. As a result, our future technical workforce is at risk and U.S. manufacturing as we know it is being lost to foreign markets. With too few students entering STEM fields, it is critical that
The SME Education Foundation is committed to inspiring, supporting and preparing the next generation of manufacturing engineers and technologists for the advancement of manufacturing education. Created by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) in 1979, the SME Education Foundation has provided more than $31 million since 1980 in grants, scholarships and awards through its partnerships and corporations, organizations, foundations and individual donors. Visit the SME Education Foundation at www.smeef. org Also visit www.CareerMe.org for information on advanced manufacturing careers, and www.ManufacturingisCool.com, our award-winning website for young people.
SPRING 2011 SouthEast Education Network