Education Outreach

On Saturday September 17th 2011, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Engineering Outreach (SPEO) & Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania (ESWP) sponsored three engineering activities for children of all ages at ALCOSAN’s award-winning Annual Open House. Participants were challenged to follow the design process to build a boat out of clay that could stay afloat while weighed down with washers of various weights. In addition, participants were given materials to build miniature sailboats to race down a canal. Finally, participants competed against one another to see who could put together a 3D model of the ALCOSAN plant in the shortest amount of time. Approximately 1,400 children and adults were in attendance.

August, 2011
ESWP is pleased to announce the winners of the 2011 Members’ Scholarship. This year, ESWP has chosen two (2) $1,000 scholarship recipients: Matthew Faller and Emily Friedline. Matthew is the grandson of member Reyman Branting, and is a student at Purdue University, where he is majoring in Aeronautical Engineering as a Senior. Emily is the daughter of member Larry Friedline, and is attending The University of Rochester as a Freshman, where she is a majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Congratulations to both of our Scholarship Recipients!

June, 2011
High School Explorers More than 20 students from the Pittsburgh Public School District were guests at ESWP�s 2011 International Bridge Conference, in our first ever �High School Explorers� program. Students spent a busy day that included lectures about careers in bridge design, engineering, construction and education, as well as competed in the popsicle stick bridge building competition, conducted by the ASCE Young Member Forum. After lunch, students toured the IBC Exhibit Hall and talk to exhibitors and conference attendees.

May, 2011
More than 200 students, from grades 6-9, participated in the second year of �Design Lives Here� a program collaborative between ESWP and WQED Multimedia. Students represented more than 20 in-school and after-school groups. The 2011 program began in January, 2011 with each group receiving an in-class visit from an engineer mentor who helped introduce the activity kits, and answer questions about �what an engineer does.� Continuing on, groups performed monthly hands-on activities which included engineering concepts and principles; students really learned by doing! Four monthly activities were included in all.

This year, the program again culminated in a year end challenge event, held in May at the studios of WQED�s Oakland facility. More than 120 students and 20 engineer mentors came together for a day long challenge, where students were �drafted� onto teams comprised of different ages, grades and groups to promote a team-working environment. Teams competed by performing three different challenges different from what they had previously done in the classroom. Additionally, the students enjoyed a �working lunch� when engineer mentors presented the different career and educational paths that exist to pursue a career in engineering.

Prizes and trophies were awarded to the top finishing teams based upon their overall achievements in the challenge events. All student also received a Design Lives Here Team Tee-shirt, drawstring book bag and other goodies.

Thank you to the generous support of our sponsors, and all of those hard working mentors who came together to put on a fantastic event.

You can see pictures of the event by clicking here.

February, 2011
Even though John Ratzenberger, the guest speaker of the 2011 Annual Awards Banquet, had to take �planes, trains and automobiles & tow trucks� to arrive in Pittsburgh for the Banquet, he still managed to make time to visit students in Pittsburgh�s Sci-Tek Academy High School. Ratzenberger, a advocate of �tinkering� as a means for children to explore their creative side, reminisced about his former career as a journey man carpenter. During his visit to Sci-Tek, he was able to see high school students doing just that. Ratzenberger applauded the efforts of students and teachers for their keen interest in the pre-engineering program at Sci-Tek, and talked about the importance of a quality education, giving encouragement to the students to �work hard and good things will happen�. Ratzenberger appeared later that evening at ESWP�s Annual Engineering Awards Banquet.

To encourage the interest in the engineering profession in today's youth, we provide links to sites that encourage this pursuit.

Volunteers

ACE Mentor Program Western PA Chapter is seeking Mentor Volunteers.

The ACE Mentor Program provides high school students the opportunity to connect with professionals in the ACE industry. Volunteers are asked
to:

This is a great opportunity to join a new chapter and make a difference in the lives of young people. These young people are the future of the ACE Industry!

For more information, please visit http://www.acementor.org/668

For more information on the ESWP's Student Programs, please e-mail Alyia Smith-Parker at a.smith-parker@eswp.com

ESWP: Education and Outreach

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