Reaching Out, Plugging In

By Bill Clayton

Michigan Engineering has a long tradition of reaching out beyond its campus and plugging into the local community and the world at large. This outreach experience is mutually beneficial: What Michigan Engineering contributes to society - education, exploration and opportunity - it gets back in kind, in many ways. As satisfaction in showing young people the possibilities that exist for them. As fulfillment in helping the less fortunate. As opportunities to put education and research to work. And as gratification in helping students become some of the finest engineers - and people - in the world.

These outreach examples are just a portion of all of the programs that Michigan Engineering makes available. Read about other outreach programs online the College web site at www.engin.umich.edu/outreach.

Student Societies and Projects

Student societies of all sorts help connect the College of Engineering to the community. Clubs, project teams and local chapters of national organizations such as the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) - they all step out of the classroom and labs and into the real world to develop leadership skills, to do philanthropic work and, in many cases, to simply have fun.

Dominican Republic Project - a partnership of CoE, U-M public health and medical students who do hands-on work to improve the drinking water in a small town outside San Cristobal, in the Dominican Republic.	A Walk for Education - an NSBE event to promote higher education in Detroit's African American community and to share information about educational opportunities in math, science, engineering and technology. Pi Tau Sigma - an international mechanical engineering honor society that fosters integrity, leadership and service in its membership and among K-12 students. National Black AIDS Awareness Day - a collaboration between NSBE and other student organizations to raise public consciousness about AIDS.
BLUElab (Better Living Using Engineering) - a student organization that offers technical assistance to solve the real world problems of underserved communities at home and abroad. INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences) - a collaboration of engineers, scientists, students, educators and managers who arrange professional conferences and publish journals on operations research and management.	EERI (Earthquake Engineering Research Institute) - a society of engineers, geoscientists, architects, planners, public officials and social scientists who - with the participation of students, faculty and staff - work to improve earthquake engineering.
TBP (Tau Beta Pi) - a national engineering honor society that sponsors events on campus and throughout the community for organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and Mott's Children's Hospital. Project SEED (Students Establishing Educational Dreams) - a program developed by the American Chemical Society, in partnership with Engineers for a Sustainable World, to send SEED members to Mexico to work on development projects.
MMS (Michigan Mars Society) - an organization that educates the public, hosts space-related events, develops internal projects and works to inform Michigan congressional delegates on the importance of space research.

MEPO

The Minority Engineering Program Office (MEPO) provides leadership and the means to implement, facilitate and promote policies and services that benefit the College of Engineering environment and increase the number of underrepresented minority engineering students who graduate with engineering degrees.

Camp CAEN

Society of Women Engineers

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is an educational and service organization that empowers women to succeed and be recognized for their contributions and achievements as engineers and leaders.

Scout Out Engineering Days - an opportunity for local Girl Scouts to visit the Michigan Engineering campus and see what engineering's all about.

Neutral Zone - a teen center in Ann Arbor that promotes personal growth through artistic expression, community leadership and the exchange of ideas. SWE members make frequent visits to help cook dinners for the teens.

High-school Visits - presentations in which SWE members address high-school students and answer questions about engineering. 

HI-CE

HI-CE, the Center for Highly Interactive Classrooms, Curricula & Computing in Education, offers individualized consultation to schools that are trying to instill inquiry into their curricula.

Individual Consultation - a service covering a number of educational issues, available to schools, districts, educational service agencies and other organizations.

GoKNOW - a commercial entity that creates award-winning educational software and science curricula for K-12 schools. 

 Michigan Space Grant Consortium 

The Michigan Space Grant Consortium (MSGC) champions space-related education, research and technology in Michigan. Its programs particularly address science, math and technology for K-12 students. The MSGC also recruits and trains U.S. citizens - especially women, underrepresented minorities and people with disabilities - for careers in aerospace science and technology.

Hands-on Lessons - activities in which K-12 students work directly with experiments that apply to space science and technology.

K-12 Educator Incentive Program - a program that promotes projects which encourage and enrich the study of mathematics, science or technology for K-12 students.

Teacher Training Program - a program that fosters instructor training in mathematics, aerospace technology, and space or Earth system science. Training includes entry-level courses, supplementary materials, conferences and workshops.

Student Poster Competition - a contest in which students use the medium of posters to state problems, results, their interpretations and conclusions. 

WISE/WIE

Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) works to increase the number of girls and women pursuing degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. WISE also fosters the future success of women who enter engineering fields.

ERCs

The Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Wireless Integrated MicroSystems (WIMS) develops miniature, low cost, integrated microsystems with far-ranging applications for industry, health care and the environment.

The ERC for Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS) is developing a new type of factory that contains a reconfigurable manufacturing system, a circumstance that will enable manufacturers to "evolve" - efficiently, quickly and at low cost - as market and manufacturing demands change.

Michigan Engineering's ERCs are supported by the National Science Foundation.

Engineering for Community - an activity (part of a course, Engineering 490: Engineering for Community) in which students engineer projects such as producing biodegradable soap, developing modular self constructed affordable housing and improving a women's shelter. Greenfield Coalition/ Focus: HOPE - a collaboration to develop interactive software that introduces RMS and Design for RMS to students in middle school, high school, vocational and community colleges.
Detroit-Area Pre-College Engineering Program - a five-week, Saturday-only program in which 7th- and 8th- grade DAPCEP students observe demonstrations, conduct experiments, build and program LEGO robots and do interactive activities. Elementary School Science Clubs - a program in which hands-on activities lead elementary students to make discoveries that ignite their interest in science and engineering...
Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum Displays - a project in which volunteers build interactive displays that youngsters use to alter product designs and see how those alterations affect production costs.	Portable Manufacturing Project - activities in which middle- and highschool students use robots and milling machines to design and engrave blocks and, in the process, learn about computer-aided design and simple computer programming.

DAPCEP

DAPCEP - DAPCEP (Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program) is an organization that supports outreach activities which are educational, fun and able to increase the number of Michigan's underrepresented minority students who are motivated and prepared academically to pursue careers in engineering, science, manufacturing and mathematics-related fields.