January/February
2001
A
Sightseer's Guide to Engineering
By Diane Enriquez
So you
think an engineer is someone who drives a train? Or maybe you think
the word "engineer" is synonymous with computers? With the
onslaught of computer technology, it's easy to see why computer engineers
get so much attention these days, but engineers are everywhere. They're
helping to design your car, the roads you drive on, your CD player,
and even your golf balls.
But if you didn't know that, you're not alone. A 1998 poll indicated
that 61 percent of adults felt "not very well" or "not
at all well" informed about engineering. So this year, to celebrate
the 50th anniversary of National Engineers Week, the National Society
of Professional Engineers and its society partners are creating "A
Sightseer's Guide to Engineering" Web-based state-by-state travel
guide to encourage both children and adults to view online remarkable
and fascinating engineering achievements and activities from all disciplines
around the United States.
The featured locations will show the public that engineering is not
only everywhere but it can also be fun. The guide might include a
roller coaster, a ski lift, a lighthouse, or a college lab, as well
as obvious engineering marvels such as Hoover Dam. The public was
asked to make suggestions for interesting sites. The travel guide
will be launched on the National Engineers Week Web site (www.eweek.org)on
the first day of National Engineers Week 2001, which is held February
18-24.
This guide to engineering is only one of the many activities planned
for National Engineers Week. During the week, engineers participate
in a variety of activities to help create an interest in engineering,
math, and science. And the National Engineers Week Web site will contain
information on a variety of activities and resources designed to increase
the public's awareness and appreciation of the engineering profession.
And after your interest is successfully peaked, you might want to
visit "Discover Engineering Online" (www.discoverengineering.org).
Aimed at inspiring interest in engineering among America's youth,
the site is a vast resource that its developer, Eastman Chemical Company,
co-chair of the 1999 National Engineers Week, hopes will tantalize
its users to take a serious look into the world of engineering.
Among the many features of the site is information on what engineers
do and how to become one including civil engineers and specific disciplines
such as structural, transportation, and geotechnical engineering.
Designed specifically for students in grades six through nine, an
age group known for limited patience for anything that even hints
of boredom, the site has almost endless links to games, downloadables,
and powerful graphics, as well as to Web sites of corporations, engineering
societies, and other resources, all tailored to keep young minds tuned
in. One section, for example, lists several "cool" things
tied to engineering, such as the mechanics of getting music from a
compact disc to the ears of a teen, how to make a batch of plastic
at home, or learning how to fold the world's greatest paper airplane.
Paper airplane? Yes, engineers do that, too. You'll see, after
exploring these sites and all of the exciting things that engineers
get to do, you'll forget you ever thought that they just drove trains.
Diane
Enriquez is the Webmaster for the Federal Highway Administration's
Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, Va. She is employed
by Avalon Integrated Services Corp. of Arlington, Va.
Other
Articles in this Issue:
Learning
to Beat Snow and Ice
Safe
Plowing - Applying Intelligent Vehicle Technology
Improving
Roadside Safety by Computer Simulation
Using
the Computer and DYNA3D to save lives
LS-DYNA:
A Computer Modeling Success Story
Preservation
of Wetlands on the Federal-Aid Highway System
Internal
FHWA Partnership Leverages Technology and Innovation
New
Applications Make NDGPS More Pervasive
Center
for Excellence in Advanced Traffic and Logistics Algorithms and Systems
(ATLAS)
National
Work Zone Awareness Week (April 9 to 12) - Enhancing Safety and Mobility
in Work Zones