IIT-M boy wins Microsoft internship
The official code4bill site doesn’t have the final selection posted yet.
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The NASA Robotics Academy is an intensive resident summer program of higher learning for college undergraduate and graduate students interested in pursuing professional and leadership careers in robotics-related fields.
Besides attending lectures and workshops with experts in their field, the Robotics Academy students are involved in supervised research in GSFC laboratories, private companies, and universities, and will participate in visits to other NASA Centers, the Applied Physics Laboratory, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a number of robotics-related academic laboratories and industries.
Projects this year include: Conformal Gripping System for Space Robots and Cooperative Team-diagnosis in Multi-robot Systems
2006 MIT Engineering Systems Conference
This year’s Kyoto Prize laureates will be U.S. immunologist and geneticist Dr. Leonard A. Herzenberg, 74, a professor at Stanford University; Japanese statistical mathematician Dr. Hirotugu Akaike, 78, a professor emeritus at the Institute of Statistical Mathematics; and Japanese designer Issey Miyake, 68, an artist whose innovative creations transcend time, culture and social status.
The 22nd Annual Kyoto Prize is Japan’s highest private award for lifetime achievement, presented to individuals and groups worldwide who have contributed significantly to humankind’s betterment. Each recipient receives a cash gift of 50 million yen (approximately US$446,000).
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NSF Undergraduate Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM)
program details from NSF (web site for schools)
This program makes grants to institutions of higher education to support scholarships for academically talented, financially needy students, enabling them to enter the workforce following completion of an associate, baccalaureate, or graduate level degree in science and engineering disciplines. Grantee institutions are responsible for selecting scholarship recipients, reporting demographic information about student scholars, and managing the S-STEM project at the institution.
The program does not make scholarship awards directly to students; students should contact their institution’s Office of Financial Aid for this and other scholarship opportunities.
Thanks to Marisa Dorazio, Edmonds Community College, for mentioning this. Apply for the scholarships available from Edmonds Community College. The deadline to apply is Friday, August 18. The application form has contact information in case you have any questions.
Teach Engineering, funded by NSF, provides k-12 teachers “teacher-tested, standards-based engineering content” to “enhance learning, excite students and stimulate interest in science and math through the use of hands-on engineering.”
Available modules include: Engineering and the Human Body, Exploring Solar Power, Engineering: Simple Machines and Environmental Engineering.
Working hard for their money by Elizabeth M. Taurasi, on the annual Design News salary survey:
On average, engineers are working 46 hours per week and more than 40 percent have a bachelor’s degree in engineering. But to earn that paycheck, you’re doing more than ever.
From taking on supervisory and budgetary functions to learning new skill sets, to broadening their responsibilities, today’s design engineers are doing far more than they ever had before.
This is one more confirmation of the idea that engineers have to learn and practice not just engineering concepts but many management skills (as do other specialists). The workplace is becoming continuously more integrated and all specialists have to adapt to this reality. All specialists are having to work increasingly with those outside of their specialty.
And, as in the past, though even more toady, as more responsibility is gained often this means needing new skills outside of engineering (or whatever the specific specialty is).
The article provides more interesting thoughts relating to the survey.
Jobs Update: The Death of U.S. Engineering by Paul Craig Roberts
The number of students that go into other fields does raise questions. However, I do not think the data provides answers on its own. Given that engineering majors are the highest paid graduates it is not a case that the students options are poor. It could well be that the engineering students are very capable in many ways and find jobs that are not focused on engineering (say management, finance or …).
Once again the whole area of engineering jobs and the future is complex. But once again I disagree with the thinking presented here. The competition from abroad will increase greatly going forward. That is because every country that is focused on competing with the most successful economies is focused on improving their engineering capabilities. They all want the high paying and economically valuable jobs.
See more posts on science and engineering careers.
A plane you can print by Paul Marks:
Polecat is a new unmanned plane: “About 90 per cent of Polecat is made of composite materials with much of that material made by rapid prototyping.”
More information on 3d printing from a manufacturer of the printers. Not quite ready for in home printing of say a new can opener on demand but can that day really be far away?
Engineering a new way by Amy Hetzner
See our previous posts: Olin Engineering Education Experiment – Improving Engineering Education
Wow, 33% of engineering students graduating sure wasn’t very impressive. Frankly I don’t think 60% is very good but I believe comparatively it is reasonably good. Overall that rate really needs to be improved. Olin College does have some advantages being small and providing a full scholarship: their first class graduated 66 of the 75 that started 4 years ago.