Convincing kids that engineering is cool

Delightful, bet everyone really enjoyed that day! On the serious side, I can't understand why kids are apparently not that interested in science at the moment. I have a three year old grandson whose every fourth word is WHY??? Is it parental lack of patience - something which I know for myself is not limitless - or their own understanding. I was seldom happier that visiting the science museum in Newhall St., Birmingham which was some three floors packed with items, a big part of which were interactive demonstrations of one sort or another (press a button and something moved/lit up/made a noise). I couldn't go often enough.

The place was closed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This looks like it has achieved diverse cross-functionality through the leveraging of new force-forward paradigms in vectors of differentiation.

I bet you can't say that with a mouth full of jelly!!!

John.

Why would you want them to understand any science or engineering? Let them be sales/ marketting or actresses. That way you will appear to be a highly valuable resource when there is a labor shortage of intelligent people. Watch the movie idiocracy and you'll see where you could stand.

Great movie illustrating what would happen if liberalism runs rampant and no one is held to any standards or judgements.

I like your idea of making it fun, but you can also make them aware how big a role engineering plays in their everyday lives. The next time they are engrossed in a video game, website, or cell phone, ask them to explain to you how those products came to be. If they say they don't know, don't tell them, challenge them to find out for themselves. Make them curious, and they will learn on their own.

If they say they're more interested in having fun than being a nerd that spends all his time learning and studying, tell them making money is fun and nerds like Bill Gates have made a lot of money! I remember an article, entitled "Jocks vs. Nerds", in a ham radio club newletter a few years back. It went on to outline all the money Michael Jordan makes while he does various things. It ended by saying that if he saved every cent he made, he would have to save up for years (it was either 30 or 300, I can't remember) to have as much as Bill Gates already has! Nerds win!

One of my fellow hams in Tulsa launches surplus weather balloons with radio-equipped payloads. He assembles the packages himself, runs software that predicts the path the balloon will follow, and then tracks the balloon to recover the payload. Sounds like a real nerd, doesn't he? He's a retired firefighter.

In Toronto, Ontario, Canada we have the Ontario Science Centre in the heart of the city. This centre has thousands of interactive displays to allow children and adults to investigate and explore all disciplines of science, engineering and technology. Not just pushing buttons either. One exhibit has a working air vehicle that when activated rides on a cushion of air and is controlled by a joystick. Very Cool. My niece and nephew didn't want to go home.

Yeah, the Ontario Science Center is nice. The Rochester Museum & Science Center has a floor of hands-on displays - nothing as big as Toronto but it's nice.

But when it comes to why are kids turning away from science I'd have to say that it's because society doesn't value engineers and scientists the same way it does movie stars, sports heroes and lawyers. When is the last time you saw a TV drama about engineers? "CSI" is close, but not quite there. My wife perfers that to "Modern Marvels" though.

The other thing is that even for the kids who do "get it" with the curiosity to spend time tinkering it becomes pretty obvious as their scientist parents are made redundant that being an engineer might not be a stable career move. I guess nothing is, but here in Rochester what with Kodak, Xerox, Delphi, and B&L all having problems and layoffs at the same time the lesson is that engineers are expendible.

Then there is the mass media. Engineering triumphs really don't get much press time (unless you watch the Discovery Channel) but an engineering disaster will always hit the front page.

I could go on like this for more than a few beers, but you all know how it is. You have to have a motivated desire to be an engineer. How do you build that into a kid? Right now my son gets roped into all sorts of repair and build it projects and since my basement is better equipped than the company I work for he sees a fair number of projects coming home too. He's a good helper and curious, but he wants to be a lawyer.

Where is Geordi LaForge when you need him?

Right now my son gets roped into all sorts of repair and build it projects and since my basement is better equipped than the company I work for he sees a fair number of projects coming home too. He's a good helper and curious, but he wants to be a lawyer.

Well, maybe he'll become a patent attorney! Or better yet, a judge that actually understands science and engineering, and won't get confused if he has to rule on a patent case!

"Well, maybe he'll become a patent attorney!"

Becoming a patent agent is a viable option. I know this from personal experience.

jhammond

___________________________

www.patent-innovations.com

At least your son will get more respect as a lawyer. LOL.

please rise your hand on who thinks highly of an attorney. (when you don't need them)

(parents who already have children that are attorneys do not count.)

And the interest in an engineering career is not so much as motivating as it may be cultivating the interests. And the pictures shown is a very good start.

I remember a book I seen on the shelves of B. Dalton years ago. Its title was Structural Stress Analysis of the Strapless Evening Gown. No one ever bought it, but it was definitely dog-eared! Maybe if someone could come out with a book, or, for today's kids, a DVD like that, it might catch a teenager's attention.

Hmmm, maybe time for a Google search....

Nice post 3Doug,

Thats where some of the problems lie. Some but not all engineers want to be envolved it what may be called high profile projects. Unfortunately the majority of the projects can be mundane but just as or even more important. Because it effects the quality of life for more people.

Fortunately, we have engineers out there that see it as only problem solving, and basically make it happen, then go onto the next challenge.

And you just listed a good example, someone published a book about what seeminly an uninteresting problem. Look deeper than the cover, and there are alot more issues to be dealt with.

I have caught myself reading and being interested by what initially appeared to be a boring topic only to be surprised to find out that there is more to it.

"So don't read the book by it's cover"