Northrop Grumman Foundation Sponsors National Engineers Week
Northrop Grumman Foundation is proud to sponsor the National Engineers Week 2007 (February 18-24), a formal coalition of more than 75 engineering, professional, and technical societies and more than 50 corporations and government agencies. Engineers Week was founded in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers, dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing understanding of and interest in engineering and technology careers among young students and by promoting pre-college literacy in math and science. Engineers Week also raises public understanding and appreciation of engineers' contributions to society.
Cyberchase Knows Women Engineers are "For Real"
On Thursday, March 22, 2007, children of all ages called in to chat-live with Cyberchase For Real star, Bianca, and her very cyberrific real-life engineer friend, Veronica Nelson, as part of the National Engineers Week Foundation's "Global Marathon: For, By and About Women in Engineering" - an extension of "Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day." Please Click Here (PDF - 700 KB) for a more detailed description of the session.
For more on Cyberchase and related links, see below.
Educational Outreach, Sculpture and Robotics Competition
School visits, "Cangineering" sculptures and robot-building contests between students and engineers mark Northrop Grumman's observance of Engineers Week at company locations in El Segundo, Palmdale, Rancho Bernardo and Redondo Beach.
Northrop Grumman engineers will visit more than 10 middle schools and high schools -- reaching more than 1,000 students -- to discuss engineering as a career and the importance of a math and science education. The week's activities augment employee participationin tutoring and mentoring programs conducted throughout the year.
Teams of Northrop Grumman engineers are competing in "Cangineering" contests to determine who can build the most creative sculpture using cans of food (see photos, below). Some sculptures use thousands of cans to depict company products such as the James Webb Space Telescope and the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. The food will be donated to local charities.
Finally, the FIRST Vex Challenge will feature high school students matching their robot-building skills against Northrop Grumman engineers. Remote-controlled robots will attempt feats such as depositing rubber balls in goals and hanging from a 33-inch-highbar on a rotating platform. Following the competitions, Northrop Grumman will present $8,000 in donations to the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) organization.
FIRST is a not-for-profit public charity founded in 1989 to inspire young people's interest and participation in science and technology. FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs that build not only science and technology skills and interests, but also self-confidence, leadership and life skills.
A model of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was built with 3,234 cans, weighing 2,348 pounds and covering 6 feet by 10 feet by 5 feet as part of the "Cangineering" project, a part of a week-long series of educational outreach activities. The 20-member team required about 80 man-hours to build the sculpture. The real JWST is being built by Northrop Grumman to search for the first galaxies or luminous objects formed after the Big Bang, determine how galaxies evolved, and observe the formation of stars. The models will be on display throughout the week, then disassembled and donated to Amigos Sin Barreras, a food bank based in Redondo Beach, Calif. More...
A 13-member team built a sculpture of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) with 3,580 cans weighing 2,668 pounds and covering 6 feet by 10 feet by 5 feet as part of the "Cangineering" project, a part of a week-long series of educational outreach activities. It required 120 man-hours to build. Northrop Grumman is leading the effort to design and develop NPOESS, the nation's next-generation low-Earth orbiting environmental system that will provide data on the weather and environment to civilian and military users. The models will be on display throughout the week, then disassembled and donated to Amigos Sin Barreras, a food bank based in Redondo Beach, Calif. More...
"Engineers contribute to society in many ways: from improving national security to exploring space to making everyone's daily lives more rewarding and productive," said Frank Flores, vice president of Engineering, Logistics and Technology for Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector in El Segundo, Calif. "This week's activities are one way to showcase those contributions and reach out to young people to encourage their interest in technology and its unlimited potential."
"Since engineers are the heart and soul of the aerospace industry, it is appropriate to celebrate their achievements and the profession as a whole," said Clayton Kau, vice president for engineering for Northrop Grumman's Space Technology sector in Redondo Beach, Calif. "We also want to show young students and future engineers that engineering can be fun." Read the complete news release
Connecting Educators to Engineering
Connecting Educators to Engineering is the Engineers Week program that rolled out in 2006 when Northrop Grumman Corporation and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) were the National Engineers Week co-sponsors. This event was used as an opportunity for engineers to raise the awareness of educators about career opportunities in engineering, the importance of engineering as a profession, and the need for a technically literate population.
Several resources including tools and tips for talking to educators, middle school classroom material, research, and training seminars can be found on the web at www.swe.org/connecting. New this year are several PowerPoint presentations that can be used as a starting point when talking to educators. The presentations may be modified to fit the presenters needs by adding or deleting portions.
2007 Asian American Engineer of the Year Award Winners
As part of the celebration of the National Engineers Week, the Chinese Institute of Engineers-USA jointly with the National Engineers Week Foundation honors outstanding corporate leaders, scientists and engineers of Asian heritage with the prestigious Asian American Engineer of the Year Award.
Northrop Grumman would like to congratulate Brad Furukawa, Vice President and Chief Information Officer,
Space Technology sector, and Kim L. Ong,
Technical Fellow,
Industrial Engineer/Statistician,
Information Technology sector, for their outstanding achievements in their fields and their contributions to the community. The award program is dedicated to fostering human relations, and to promoting diversity and information exchange among engineers and scientists. The award recipients so recognized are a source of inspiration for engineers of all heritages, races, present and future.
