Penn State Intercom......February 8, 2001

Penn State Fayette to hold
series of events
for Engineering Month

February is home to National Engineer's Week, and in honor of that, Penn State Fayette faculty member David Meredith is making February Engineering Month for the third year in a row.

Meredith, associate professor of general engineering in the Building Environmental Systems Technology program at Penn State Fayette, along with fellow faculty and students in the program, organized a full schedule of events for the month, of interest to students in high school and college.

"Girrl Power! Aiming for Diversity, Engineers Target Girls" is the theme for National Engineers Week, and Penn State Fayette also will focus on the many uses of electricity and electronics in engineering in the exhibits, open houses, presentations and field trips throughout the month.

"Only a few girls consider math and science as career and education choices," said Meredith. "We have to change that if the U.S. is to continue as the world leader in these fields. We have to keep girls interested in math and science all the way through high school and into college."

Since national statistics show that girls start lagging behind boys in math skills while they are in junior high, this year's program will focus on that age group to change that trend.

Throughout February, the girls in the program will interact and learn about the magic of electrons in engineering and engineering technology through the following events:

* Feb. 14, 6:30-8 p.m.: "Global Positioning Satellites and Surveying" by Fayette Engineering;

* Feb. 21, 1-2 p.m.: Satellite downlink from National Technological University on "Discover Engineering;"

* Feb. 22, 6:30-8 p.m.: Engineering open house, open to the public;

* Feb. 28, 3:30-5 p.m.: Tour of biomedical applications at Brownsville Hospital;

* March 7, all day: Field trip to NanoFabrication Manufacturing Lab at University Park;

* March 20, 6:30-8 p.m.: Tour of Hatfield Power Station.

For more information, call (724) 430-4268.

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