Spring 2022

NSPE Today
Education Foundation Funds DiscoverE Research Project

The NSPE Education Foundation approved funding to support . This effort builds on the important work of earlier projects—Changing the Conversation and Engineer Your Life (conducted 16 years ago)—by revisiting and testing existing engineering messages, along with new messages, to determine what is effective in reaching today’s teens and their parents from a multitude of backgrounds.

The DiscoverE research project will be driven by a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, especially as it relates to reaching underrepresented groups and encouraging them to consider an education and career in engineering. Research will include surveying high school students, parents, engineers, and engineering undergraduates, which will culminate into a comprehensive report and communication plan.

The results of the Messages Matter research will be disseminated and adopted in the wider STEM community over several years, reaching millions of stakeholders such as educators, engineering companies, academia (K-12 and higher education), nonprofit STEM providers, STEM societies, and legislators (local and federal). As a sponsoring organization, the NSPE Education Foundation will receive recognition and visibility on all published items and demonstrate the Foundation’s mission to reaching students and the general public with messages about the value and importance of engineers to our future

Securing the Future of Engineering

Incorporated in 1960, the NSPE Education Foundation is committed to the future of the engineering profession. A donation to the Education Foundation can help to fulfill its vision to be a major source of support for the educational and ethical practice needs of engineering students, engineering teachers, and practicing professionals.

In addition to supporting professional leadership programs and STEM activities and research, the Foundation currently funds five academic scholarships: the Auxiliary Legacy Scholarship; the George B. Hightower, P.E. Fellowship; the Maureen L. and Howard Blitman, P.E., Scholarship to Promote Diversity in Engineering; the Steinman Scholarship; and the Swadesh and Om P. Popli, P.E., P.L.S. Scholarship.