Steve SnellingIndustrial Engineer / Process Engineer

Boeing Commercial Airplanes Co.&

Past PSEC Presidentstephen.r.snelling@boeing.com

National Engineers Week and Related Activities

PSEC

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What Boeing does to promote Engineering

• Sponsors many activities related to National Engineers Week at several U.S. plant sites– Paper airplane building contests– Simple classroom demos– Display tables at open house events– National Engineers Week is officially in Feb. , but some

related activities are held throughout the year– Provides engineer speakers to local K-12 schools (near

several U.S. plant locations)

• Works with several University engineering programs

• Sponsors many student Intern jobs for University engineering students

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What Boeing does to promote Engineering (continued)

• Encourages individual engineers to volunteer to work with schools

• Offers individual engineers, professional societies support – Paying for annual dues & conferences

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What PSEC does to promote Engineering

• Puget Sound Engineering Council (PSEC)– Made up of 20 Greater Seattle engineering societies,

including local IIE Chapter– Society representatives to PSEC meet monthly

• Celebrates National Engineers Week with an Awards Banquet in February– Gives out 6 annual PSEC Awards from nominations from

member societies (Young Engineer, Industry Engineer, Government Engineer, Academic Engineer, Professional Engineer, & Engineering Educator)

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2009 PSEC Engineer-of-the-Year, Award Winners

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What PSEC does to promote Engineering (continued)

• Holds an annual K-12 Engineers Fair with about 25 table displays

• Schedules Mentor Nights at several local Engineering Universities & Community Colleges

• Provides engineer speakers for high school & middle school Career Day events

• Provides Career Fair displays at high school events• Provides information for school teachers, parents, &

students on our web site’s Education Section: http://pseconline.org

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IIE Booth at K-12 Engineers Fair

IIE’s corvette car assembly plant model shows a typical plant layout, sub-assembly work, parts receiving & storage, and product drawings & assembly instructions. Free Hot Wheel cars.

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PSEC Mentor Nights

Up to 75 working engineers from 20 different engineering disciplines - talk to over 200 University of Washington students. Free pizza & soft drinks.

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PSEC Career Fair - table display

PSEC’s general engineering display has small products & models that represent 25 types of engineering. Free plastic mech. pencils.

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What PSEC’s member societies do to promote Engineering

• Several of our member societies offer K-12 educational programs to schools:

– Popsicle Stick Bridge Building (Civil engineers)

– Future Cities Competition (Electrical engineers)

– A World in Motion (Automotive engineers)

– NASA classroom (Women engineers)

– Math Counts (Professional engineers)

• Several of our member groups support college chapters of their engineering society

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2009 Popsicle Stick Bridge Building, Seattle ASCE Competition

Some of the bridges being judged, before destructive testing.

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2009 Future Cities, Washington State - Regional Competition

One of the scale models of a future city, 7th & 8th graders.

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Part of the general engineering presentation we take to local schools

• The next few slides shows a portion of a general engineering presentation our PSEC volunteer speakers take to local high schools and middle schools

• This is usually to support a Career Day event, organized by the schools themselves

• We have our speaker volunteers organized by county – to minimize the driving distances (I’m the current Coordinator for this activity)

• If a table display is required (for a Career Fair event) – I usually bring a general engineering display that I built a few years ago

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What engineers do

• Engineers in general are problem solvers• Frequently, engineers design things that have

real world applications• Engineers have designed many products and

structures that we use in our daily lives• Engineers look for practical applications for

things scientists and others discover• Main engineering fields are Mechanical,

Electrical, Civil, Aerospace, & Chemical• Smaller specialties are Environmental, Ceramic,

Nuclear, Petroleum, Agricultural, & Industrial

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Aerospace Engineering

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Automotive Engineering

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Chemical Engineering

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Civil Engineering

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Electrical Engineering

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Industrial Engineering

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Mechanical Engineering

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Robotics Engineering

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Outlook for young people entering

the Engineering field • Excellent job prospects with unlimited variety

of work, good pay & benefits• Should enjoy math & science and have good

study skills• In addition to education, it requires practical

experience – Intern or Co-Op work during college is

recommended

• Some specialty engineering fields may require a Masters degree or Ph.D.

• Later - your educational degree, job experience, and field of interest will determine the type of engineering work you do

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Other items covered in our high school presentations

• A list of all the types of engineering• A brief discussion of those the students might

already be interested in (when they are asked)• Specific background of the speaker• How the speaker chose their type of engineering• The speaker’s current job duties• What a typical day is like for the speaker• What the speaker likes & dislikes about their

current job• Any general advice to students thinking about

studying engineering• Leave 15 minutes for students’ questions

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Some ways for Engineering Societies (like IIE) to connect with schools

• Utilize local activities like National Engineers Week activities: – Engineer Fairs, Corporate events, Mentor Nights, etc.

• Look for local professional groups you can partner with (like other engineering societies)

• Find out if school districts (and individual schools) are having Career Days & Career Fair events

• Offer to speak to local high schools & middle schools (prepare a good PowerPoint presentation that everyone can easily modify)

• Make a nice table display that will connect with young students & try it out

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04/21/23

Thanks

Steve SnellingIndustrial Engineer / Process Engineer

Boeing Commercial Airplanes Co.&

Past PSEC Presidentstephen.r.snelling@boeing.com