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Bridging the engineering workforce gap through community outreach
Author(s) -
Kekelis Linda,
Gomes Lyn
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.2009.tb09943.x
Subject(s) - outreach , trips architecture , workforce , bridging (networking) , public relations , economic shortage , engineering , political science , medical education , computer science , government (linguistics) , transport engineering , medicine , computer network , linguistics , philosophy , law
The National Science Foundation has predicted a shortage of 70,000 engineers by 2010. Yet, engineers are needed more than ever to come up with novel solutions to reconcile the ever‐increasing demands on water resources. Through community outreach activities, today's engineers can become role models for middle school and high school students, encouraging them not only to become powerful stewards of water quality and conservation, but also to inspire the students to become tomorrow's engineers. Little information has been available, however, on how to interact effectively with students and keep them engaged during classroom visits and field trips. This article provides engineering firms and water agencies with guidelines that have been proven effective for conducting outreach activities in a classroom or at a worksite. The authors provide field trip schedules, a hands‐on activity to design and build a water filter, scavenger hunt/tour ideas, and sample questions to help stimulate interaction among students and role models.