2012 Issue

5 National Engineers Week February 19-25, 2012 The National Engineers Week Foundation, a formal coalition of more than 100 professional societies, major corporations and government agencies, is dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well- educated future engineering workforce. It accomplishes this goal by increasing the understanding of, and interest in, engineering and technology careers among young students and by promot- ing pre-college literacy in math and science. Engineers Week also raises public understanding and appreciation of engineers’ contributions to society. In the United States, the third full week of February is National Engineers Week. The celebration of National Engineers Week was started in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers in conjunction with the birthday of our first president, George Washington. Presi- dent Washington is considered as the nation’s first engineer, most notably for his survey work. The field of engineering encompasses many disciplines and is the art of applying those disciplines to improve our world. Everyone knows that an engineer needs a good background in math and science in order to become an engineer, but someone who wants to become an engineer should also have a strong pragmatic streak and the ability to think creatively. By applying knowledge gained in many different fields, not just science and math, an engineer can truly change the world for the benefit of everyone. The standards for becoming a professional engineer have never been higher, but that is appropriate since engineers will probably solve the most serious problems of our times.  Member Societies www.aaee.net www.acecutah.org www.aiaa.org www.asce.org www.utahashrae.org www.asme.org www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/utah www.aspe.org www.ite.org www.same.org www.seau.org www.swe.org www.ucls.org www.wtsinternational.org www.uspeonline.com Seven billion people. Seven billion dreams. Seven billion chances for engineers to turn dreams into reality. The theme for 2012 is based on the projected world population of 7,000,000,000. There are many challenges facing our world that require immediate engineering solutions. The National Engineers Week Foundation delivers programs and resources used by partners locally, nationally and internationally to help the next generation of talent meet and overcome these challenges.