NACME Symposium Re-Energizes the Nation’s Preparation of Minorities for Engineering Careers

The expansion of America's global economic competitiveness in engineering and technology will require a diverse engineering workforce.

Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) November 17, 2005 -- “The United States is today at a critical crossroads in preparing students for careers in engineering. A revived commitment by industry, universities, and government is needed to support students from math- and science-rich middle school and high school experiences—with exposure to engineering concepts—through the successful completion of a four-year engineering education. Furthermore, without a greater proportion of underrepresented minority students being adequately prepared to meet the rigorous challenges for success in the engineering and technology workforce, America is destined to lose its current global competitive edge.”

That was the message presented today by Dr. John Brooks Slaughter, president & CEO of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc. (NACME), as he opened the NACME SYMPOSIUM2005: "Forging Partnerships ... Sharing Goals: Meeting America's Need for Engineering Talent," before more than 200 representatives from business, government and academia who came together for this two-day conference.

Held at the Sheraton Premiere at Tyson's Corner in Vienna, VA, the NACME Symposium will focus national attention on the shortage of both underserved minority high school students adequately prepared with math and science to pursue degrees in four-year institutions and minority students graduating with an engineering education to meet this country's future demand for professional engineers.

During the first day of the Symposium, attendees will participate in a series of panel discussions and general sessions focusing on such topics as:

·    the future of engineering careers in the United States: The potential impact of outsourcing and offshoring on America's economic competitiveness,

·    the state of curricula in secondary and post-secondary urban schools in the United States and its impact on our ability to fill high-tech jobs with skilled American workers, and

·    the need for new approaches to attract more minority students to pursue a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.

Among the featured speakers and panelists are Dr. Arden L. Bement, Jr., director, National Science Foundation; Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, president, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Mr. Thomas Vander Ark, executive director, education, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Ms. Linda S. Sanford, senior vice president, enterprise on demand, transformation & information technology, IBM Corporation; and Ms. Deborah Wince-Smith, president, Council on Competitiveness.

Dr. Freeman A Hrawbowski III, president, University of Maryland, Baltimore County—who has a Master's in mathematics and a Ph.D. in higher education administration/statistics, and has written extensively on science and mathematics education—is the opening luncheon speaker. He will share his views on the importance of preparing more students of color for careers in science and technology.

The NACME Symposium's Tuesday night banquet will begin with a video presentation from Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) who will offer his views on K-12 education diversity and the impact of the offshoring and outsourcing of America's engineering and technology jobs on this country's global economic competitiveness. The highlight of the evening will be a presentation by Dr. James Duderstadt, president emeritus and university professor of science & engineering, University of Michigan. He will speak to his passion for encouraging more young people to enter the engineering profession.

On the final day, Symposium participants will hear from a diverse group of prominent speakers that will include Dr. Henry Johnson, assistant secretary, elementary and secondary education, U.S. Department of Education; Mr. Nicholas M. Donofrio, executive vice president, innovation and technology, IBM Corporation; and former congressman, cabinet member and 1996 Republican vice presidential candidate, Jack Kemp, who is currently the co-director of the public policy and advocacy organization, Empower America. These speakers will re-emphasize the previous day's discussion with specific focus on the future of engineering education and its impact on expanding economic growth in the United States.

The final panel discussion of the Symposium will address secondary and post-secondary engineering education strategies. Panelists include Dr. John Ferrandino, president, National Academy Foundation; Dr. Terry S. King, dean of the College of Engineering, Kansas State University; Ms. Elisabeth W. McGrath, director, Center for Innovation in Engineering & Science Education, Stevens Institute of Technology; and Dr. James M. Rosser, president, California State University, Los Angeles. This panel will discuss the critical need to encourage students to begin preparing for a career in engineering and will identify best practices for preparing, supporting and retaining those students.

"It is NACME's hope," stated Dr. Slaughter, "that, at the conclusion of the Symposium, we will carry with us the understanding that solutions to this growing national crisis will be found not only through individual action, but through a collective sense of purpose that we must work together with a common goal to ensure that the pathways to engineering are open to every young man and woman in America who chooses to pursue this course of study."

About NACME

NACME, the nation's largest private source of scholarships for African American, American Indian and Latino engineering students, has been a leader in promoting opportunity and inclusiveness in the fields of engineering and technology since its inception in 1974. For

more than 30 years, NACME has provided over $100 million to more than 19,000 minority engineering students at more than 160 colleges and universities. The result has been a growing cadre of highly skilled and educated minority engineers and future business leaders.

In addition to its scholarship program, NACME has also participated in many other national efforts to build pre-college math and science programs, such as the GuideMeNACME.org web site. NACME also publishes reliable and timely data and analysis of university performance in educating minority engineers, and is engaged in the policy dialogue on affirmative action, financial aid, student admissions and workplace climate.

Presenting sponsors of the symposium are Amgen Inc. and Northrop Grumman. Additional sponsors include BP America, General Electric, Merck, Raytheon, Chevron, Dow Chemical, SAIC, 3M, Bechtel, Fluor, The Boeing Company, and Career Communications Group, Inc.

For more information about NACME and SYMPOSIUM2005, please visit www.NACME.org.

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