Engineering the Next Generation

The U.S. Department of Commerce in July released a report on STEM (science/technology/engineering/mathematics) employment that stated some interesting facts. For example, the department projects that STEM occupations will grow by 17 percent from 2008 to 2018, compared with 9.8 percent growth for non-STEM occupations. STEM workers also command higher wages, earning 26 percent more than their non-STEM counterparts, and STEM-degree holders enjoy higher earnings, regardless of whether they work in STEM or non-STEM occupations.

All of these points are valuable when it comes to U.S. competitiveness, individual earning power and maintaining employment in what has in recent years proved to be a less-than-reliable career environment. It was the last point, however, that made me take a closer look at this report, and made EDN ran a blog post in August that started some good conversations on how to encourage kids to take up STEM and on the next generation of engineers.

One of those conversations was with Aaron Goldstein, an Arizona State University (ASU) senior. Some lucky company will surely snatch him up when he receives his bachelor’s degree next May. Goldstein’s story starts like that of many other engineers: He played with Legos as a child, he liked to tinker, and he had a dad who sparked a curiosity in him to ask “why” and supported him along his way to a STEM education. His father even pointed out the blog post to him.

Goldstein is growing up to be a leader. In addition to interning with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and aerospace companies, he rallied his fellow classmates and professors to start ASU’s Sun Devil Satellite Laboratory. Through this group, he and a handful of fellow ambitious students started out to build a functioning satellite. They have contacted NASA and are now waiting for a launch date, with expectations for early 2013.

Goldstein spent his college years on real-world projects and gained real-world experience while networking with real engineers, not simply practicing theory and academics. He speaks highly of his school but recognizes that what is taught at many universities is not engineering; it is science and mathematics on paper. Real-world application of a STEM education and what it means to be an engineer once that degree is in hand are more valuable than the degree itself in many ways, and the only way to get that experience is by working with other more experienced engineers.

Note that the headline on this editorial is not “Engineering: the next generation,” which with the colon would grammatically mean that we were discussing the incoming work force of young, less-experienced engineers. The headline, instead, uses “engineering” as a verb. We have to build the next generation of STEM professionals. These are the people who will one day sit where you sit, face the design challenges that you face, and innovate in ways and fields that we may not even imagine yet—but they won’t get there without your help.

Understanding that, EDN and its sister publications will be hosting a meeting at ESC (Embedded Systems Conference) Boston in late September. We’re looking for the slide-rule crowd of experienced engineers who would like to connect with the next generation, spend an hour or so offering real-world experiences and histories. Perhaps you’ll choose to work for the long term with these kids—maybe become a mentor to some of them; that’s up to you.

If you are new to engineering, so new that you’ve never touched a slide rule, we welcome you to come and pick the brains of those who have. There’s a lot of knowledge for engineers to pass on from decades of hands-on work that you won’t get in a textbook.

This networking event will be the first of many efforts we will make to help engineer the next generation. You’ll find details on the meeting in the original STEM salary blog that started this project. Also, be sure to sign up for ESC, the East Coast’s leading embedded-systems event. Connect with your peers and spend a few minutes engineering the next generation.

By Suzanne Deffree, Managing Editor, online, EDN