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Partnering Strategies for Educating and Motivating the Next Generation of Aerospace Scientists and Engineers
BREAKOUT SESSION #1 (Columbia Room)
MAIN POINTS
- How do we reach out to, and attract, students to aerospace engineering and related engineering disciplines?
- Create an integrated multi-organization database with common data
structure that is accessible and offers resumes, job offerings,
internships, etc. – NASA could start and then look to industry –
integrated plan at NASA first, and then also an integrated plan for
industry. Point org could be AIAA, or American Society for Engineering
Education (ASEE).
- Design competitions with meaning, like DARPA Grand Challenge (NASA
provides follow-up) – competition should have national-issue-relevance
and/or relevance to the setting of national policies. Perhaps conduct a
competition for a policy recommendation rather than a “thing” – such as
the spaceport issue or the space tourism issue and policies associated
with developing those new industries. Create a new concept for
competition.
- Conduct an aerospace systems-centric seminar series focused on
aerospace, and involve every engineer that would touch a project.
- An IMAX movie about aeronautics/aero (how to build) or use existing
product?
- Establish the extent of existing research on the industry (how do
potential students form their opinions – from what sources; what are
they looking for?)
- As a follow-up to this workshop, have the universities from this
workshop conduct a pilot survey/web cast and ask some of the same
questions we’re asking here (use results to inform decisions of what
items to implement).
- Conduct outreach to parents and guidance counselors to give us
input into the career projection process.
- Tap into spaceport-chaser movement – make ourselves a resource to
the states and those who are seeking to develop spaceports … a new
population
- Look at industries that have no problem recruiting/retaining a
workforce and see if there are best practices.
- How do we encourage them to stay in the field, replenishing the workforce?
- GSRP: how do we improve technical buy-in? Require the student to
publish a paper in collaboration with NASA counterpart, so that the
student gets a NASA publication. An option could include having the NASA
counterpart to spend time at the university.
- Survey the recent workforce (the “fresh-out’s” within 5 years) on an
ongoing basis to get important career/opportunity information and make
it accessible; let them know and assure them we’re aware of the issue of
job opportunity.
- More consistency in support of all education programs, especially
the post-doc fellowship program as a workforce development tool. Maybe
funding for post-doc program could be given to NASA?
- How do we ensure that they get the right education/training?
- NASA-TV lecture series (or podcast) and avail for download, plus the video library
- Travel budgets to get engineers into the classroom
COMMON THEMES
- Being able to say that jobs in the industry will be available.
- What is my career path?
- Improving the image of the industry.
- Having appropriate messages for parents so that they don’t dissuade youth.
- Identifying and communicating the importance of the work; national relevance, etc. What is urgency of work?
- How will my life work be meaningful?
BREAKOUT SESSION #2 (SATURN ROOM)
MAIN POINTS
- The Excitement Factor
- Target High School and Middle School Counselors
- Counselor workshops/Scholarship Opportunities
- Mentors
- Bring someone in the industry into the schools
- Continuum of Contacts from Elementary school through graduate
- Create PR and advertising campaign to bring attention to the industry
- Pod casts, Blogs
- Appeal to the relevant age group
- Show the various/interesting roles that engineers play
- Promote ancillary careers
- Various engineering disciplines
- Change the Image of the industry and aerospace within it
- Show the various/interesting roles that engineers play
- Promote ancillary careers
- Various engineering disciplines
- Generate career enthusiasm to retain employees
- Re-education programs
- Lecture Series
- Appeal to student demographic to spark interest
- More than simple lecture – illustrative projects
- Design competitions
- Fellowships/Co-Ops
- Opportunity for student-to-student recruitment
- Increases enthusiasm
- Hands on opportunity/experience
- Exposes student to possible jobs
- NASA summer academy with NASA alumni
- Non-Traditional Support Materials
- Work w/ FedEx to transport materials
- Bring materials to campus “unofficially” to minimize liability
- Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program (SATOP)
- Receive small business requests for engineers
- Work with company to find/define the issue
- Public Relations effort to appeal to small business
- Universities might participate in trying to solve small business problem which would be good PR for aerospace engineering
- Shows how engineering is applicable to real world problems
- Political seller
- Could be used in school assemblies – demonstrate the complexities to the entire class
- Use of Existing NASA Facilities
- Moon buggy race at the space and rocket museum
- Use things affiliated w/ NASA to promote industry
- Teacher/counselor workshops at NASA facilities
- NASA experimental facilities for research that universities can not duplicate but can use
- Free Experiment Competitions for various universities
- Students could have interaction w/ NASA personnel in that 2 week program
- Host location for design competitions (huge challenge for competition organizers)
- Design projects are usually senior projects and late in the game
- Ideas that work
- Outreach to educators rather than to other agencies about what they are doing
- NASA Surveys on what works
- Both agencies and educators
- National Coalition on Aerospace Educators
- NSF funding can help high school teachers come in the summer and work as/with engineers at NASA
- REU – Research Experience for Undergraduates
- NSF Funded program – successful in astronomy could be applied to aero
- Keeps them excited in the field
- NSF – CAREER - programs for young faculty
- New Disciplines
- UAV
- Systems Engineering
- Energy
- Environment
- Nano-technology
- Bio-info-nano-convergence
- Multi-disciplinary design
COMMON THEMES
- General continual interest in the field from elementary school through life careers
- New discipline is that all disciplines need to blend together
- Each engineer needs knowledge/experience of all other disciplines
ACTION PLAN for Counselor Workshop:
- Use IEEE website to give the counselors the technical knowledge they need to properly counsel students
- Bring in a counselor who must implement a workshop in their own district/school
- Use manageable numbers for the NASA workshop and then mandate those who participate to spread the knowledge throughout the school district
- Talk to counselors – what do they think would be effective
- Survey counselors at some conference
- Goal or workshop:
- Something that they can take back to their own district (i.e. cd, dvd)
- Make videos tailored to the education level of the student so that they understand the projects in the video
- Lecture series
- Get the counselors the info to counsel
- Programs
- Challenges
- Salary
- Companies hiring in the area
- Get a mentor
- Job prospects
- Info about Grants
- Internship/Co-op information
- Scholarships for faculty for summer so the teacher knows what an engineer does and they know how to teach it (Roles Royce)
- Pre-engineering curriculum
- Work geographically around NASA centers
- 2 weeks of projects
- hands-on
- inter-departmental
Get Industry/NASA together to put on the workshop and create a model workshop
- Work with the Department of Education
Especially at each state level
- Engage engineers in the process
Include hands on engineer in project (get the engineer in the classroom)
Use an already existing program as a rubric and find the one that works for NASA
- NEWMAST Program (NASA Education with Math and Science Teachers)
NSTA took over organization
- National Association of State Directors for Career Education
Kimberly Green – executive director
Every state has a state director for career education programs appointed by the Governor or the Superintendent
Work w/ counselors and career development programs at the state level
- Other professional organizations that have educational systems in place
Target minority outreach
- Appeal most to schools w/ high minority populations
Undergrad/Grad level
- Courses w/ small classes
- Freshman appeal w/ hands on experience
Attract freshman to the major and keep upperclassmen in the major
- Sponsored colloquium series
Take students to a few universities and give them interaction w/ engineers
Engineering Societies/Fraternities
Get engineers into the student organizations
Advanced Design Program
- 30-40 schools competing for $20,000
- Create Senior design class
- Teachers meet in annual convention to discuss what is happening in the school
- High admin costs hindered the program
- Previously done by the USRA
BREAKOUT SESSION #3 (DISCOVERY I ROOM)
MAIN POINTS
- Systems engineering – develop an undergraduate curriculum or class.
- Design competition – NASA involvement. Perhaps tacking onto an existing one. Use NASA facilities.
- Making available case studies, lecture series, artifacts.
- To increase retention of underclassmen and quality of undergrad experience
- Encourage freshmen and sophomore to be involved in design process.
- Augmenting existing research grants to engage undergraduate students
- Incorporate real-world projects and situations. E.g. launch vehicles, launching student satellites, wind-tunnel experiments. Encourage longer-term projects to help student connect what they are learning to real-world application.
- Look for approaches that more effectively engage faculty in opportunities that NASA creates for undergrads and graduate students
- Increase the fellowship amounts to provide funding for the faculty member
- Use systems already in place (e.g. space grants, research experience for undergrads), augment with NASA interests and cross-agency interests.
- Metrics should include qualitative and quantitative factors. Establish success criteria.
- Focus must be on a broad range of disciplines (e.g. beyond aerospace engineering departments).
- For education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, whenever possible, establish desired outcome rather than proscribing the approach.
+ Agenda
+ Workforce Workshop Main Page
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