May 22, 2012
Video Games May Be Key To Building Future STEM Workforce
NSPE Senior Manager of Government Relations Sarah Ogden attended The Atlantic Technologies in Education Forum. The forum focused on how technology may help students understand abstract concepts through games and enable teachers to provide more individualized learning paths. White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Deputy Director Tom Kalil served as the keynote speaker. Other speakers included News Corp. Executive Vice President and former New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein, Corporation for Public Broadcasting President and CEO Pat Harrison, and PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger. Among the forum panelists were Department of Education Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement James Shelton, Microsoft Director for North America Community Affairs Andrea Taylor, DreamBox Learning President and CEO Jessie Woolley-Wilson, Change the Equation CEO Linda Rosen, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Senior Program Officer Robert Torres.
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May 17, 2012
Engineering Societies Prepare to Recognize Land-Grant Universities
NSPE Senior Manager of Government Relations Sarah Ogden participated in an American Association of Engineering Societies task force meeting to discuss celebrating the Morrill Act. The Morrill Act of 1862 established the federal land-grant university system, which now includes more than 100 institutions. The task force would like to recognize land-grant engineering programs' achievements as part of the law's sesquicentennial anniversary.
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May 16, 2012
NSPE Endorses United Nations Sustainability Initiative
NSPE joined an international group of engineering societies in endorsing the U.N.'s "Sustainable Energy for All" initiative. The program seeks to ensure universal access to modern energy services, double energy efficiency rates worldwide, and double the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix by 2030.
NSPE Attends "Great Energy Efficiency Day"
NSPE Senior Manager of Government Relations Sarah Ogden attended the Alliance to Save Energy's Great Energy Efficiency Day on Capitol Hill, where Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT-AL) served as keynote speakers. ASE President Kateri Callahan emphasized that energy efficiency is a bipartisan issue, saying that regardless of political ideology or divergent opinions on other energy issues, everyone is in favor of saving energy and money.
Panels focused on the business case for energy efficiency and included Department of Energy Better Buildings Challenge Director and Senior Program Advisor Maria Vargas; former governor and Business Roundtable President John Engler; Edison Electric Institute President Thomas Kuhn; former congressman and American Gas Association President and CEO Dave McCurdy; former congressman and American Chemistry Council President and CEO Cal Dooley; and senior executives from Schneider Electric, Legrand, Nissan North America, and LG.
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May 9, 2012
NSPE Participates in Morrill Act Sesquicentennial Task Force
NSPE Senior Manager of Government Relations Sarah Ogden participated in an American Association of Engineering Societies ad hoc task force meeting to discuss recognizing land-grant engineering programs' achievements as part of the Morrill Act's sesquicentennial anniversary. The Morrill Act of 1862 established the federal land-grant college system, which now includes more than 100 universities.
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May 2, 2012
NSPE Hosts Meeting with Afghan Design Professionals
NSPE Executive Director Larry Jacobson and Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel Arthur Schwartz met with representatives from the Society of Afghan Architects and Engineers. SAAE President and Kabul University professor Jamil Khalid, Afghanistan Ministry of Public Works procurement officer Dalia Akbarmir, and ManSab International Vice President Ahmad Wali Shairzay discussed the challenges of organizing an association for design professionals.
SAAE was founded by a group of Afghan architects and engineers in 2005 to advance the architectural, engineering, and related professions through high standards of professional practice and ethical conduct. The organization seeks to help build capacity in Afghanistan through training and education to meet the present needs of reconstruction and the long-term needs of sustainable development.
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May 1, 2012
NSPE Urges Appropriators to Make STEM Education a Priority
NSPE signed on to a letter from the STEM Education Coalition asking House and Senate Appropriations Committee leaders to make science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education a national priority as Congress considers the fiscal year 2013 budgets for the Department of Education, National Science Foundation, and other federal agencies that provide resources for educators, students, and researchers.
NSPE is a member of the STEM Education Coalition, which supports STEM programs for teachers and students at the Department of Education, National Science Foundation, and other agencies that offer STEM-related programs. The coalition is composed of more than 1,000 groups representing all sectors of the technological workforce.
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