National Engineers Month 2011 Results

"The students were very excited by the fact that the goal of engineering is to try to improve things and make things better. They loved the hands on activity and many said they wanted to be an engineer when they grow up."

NEM Teacher Participant

NEM Home

Engineers Inspire Students

Engineers and technicians from 33 Oregon and SW Washington companies visited hundreds of K-12 classrooms in February. Their mission—to motivate students to excel in math and science while building awareness and excitement for the world of careers available to them in the engineering and IT field.

NEM 2011 Results
Total Students21,300
Total Volunteers350
Total Classrooms764
Total Schools205
Total Districts73
Total Counties29

When students engage with practicing engineers, they connect the dots between what they are studying and how it is applied in the real world. They gain a new perspective of the many interesting and creative jobs that engineers do to make our lives better, and many get inspired to pursue a technical career.

Future American competitiveness is highly dependent on producing a skilled workforce with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills. Governor Kitzhaber cited the NEM program as key to addressing Oregon’s future workforce needs, proclaiming February as National Engineers Month.

NEM participants are passionate about the value of the program. In response to our NEM 2012 survey, 97% of volunteers said their participation was worthwhile and 92% of teachers believed their students were positively impacted by the visit.

“I love seeing the kids get excited about engineering and realizing that anyone can do it. The experience always reinvigorates my enthusiasm for what I do every day.”

NEM 2011 Volunteer Participant

“It gave the kids an idea of what engineers do and sparks interest in engineering. One student commented that “this was the best day ever.”

NEM 2011 Teacher Participant

 

NEM 2011 marks the 17th year that the Business Education Compact (BEC) has orchestrated the statewide initiative. Engineer volunteers have visited nearly 345,000 students since the program began in 1995.

For more information about NEM, contact Susan Parsons at the BEC: sparsons@becpdx.org.