Wide World of Engineering

ASEE Prism, Sep 2005 by Huband, Frank L

AS YOU NO DOUBT have noticed, attached to this month's Prism is a copy of the latest edition of Engineering, Go for It! This publication is part of ASEE's effort to attract young people to engineering. In Go For It!, we've tried to reflect what an exciting and dynamic field engineering is and point to the many career options available with an engineering education. We distributed 350,000 copies of the first edition, which came out in 2003, and 260,000 of the latest version have already been spoken for.

This month's Prism stories span the globe from Russia and the United States to the United Kingdom and Canada. Learn about retraining courses for Russian engineers, a University of Toronto business-engineering program, and robotics pioneer Noel Sharkey. Each story in this issue explores how engineering is working in different areas of the globe.

In "Coming to America," Mary Lord writes of the Cooper Union immigrant retraining course for Russian engineers hoping to work in the United States. To many immigrants, having to learn the bidding and estimates that are involved in U.S. engineering jobs is like learning another foreign language. Begun by the Bnai Zion Foundation, the Immigrant Engineer Re-Training Program is designed to assist engineers and scientists from the former Soviet Union find work in the United States.

Travel on to the United Kingdom with Thomas Grose's "Jolly Good Fellow," a story about computer science professor Noel Sharkey. From the University of Sheffield, Sharkey has spent much of his professional career working in the field of robotics. He's been a champion and an advocate of engineering and science; he believes shows like the British program "Robot Wars" helps draw young people into these fields, helping them to see engineering and science as more than geeky professions.

And finally, venture into Canada to learn of Jeffrey Skoll, who served as eBay's first president, and who has helped establish the Jeffrey Skoll BaSc/MBA program at the University of Toronto. In "Planting the Seed," you'll read about a program that prepares students in both engineering and business.

This issue is in one way, unique, but also typical of Prism: a wide variety of articles covering different areas of interest. Please let me know your thoughts on Prism and ASEE.

I was saddened to learn of the death of Leighton Collins on Aug. 10 at the age of 99. Leighton was executive director of ASEE from 1955 to 1969, during which period our headquarters moved from Urbana, Ill., to Washington, DC. See the note on page 54 for more information on his life.

Frank L. Huband

Executive Director and Publisher

f.huband@asee.org