The Engineering Way: "So Why Is this Important?"

taken from: www.mlive.com


Those who track career trends say that there's a looming shortage of engineers. How to correct the problem? A community could do worse than to follow the lead of four local school districts. Columbia, Jackson, Grass Lake and Hanover-Horton, with support from the Jackson County Intermediate School District, are involved in a program called Project Lead the Way. The New York-based program aims to build strategic partnerships between middle and high schools, universities, business and industry to provide students with the reality-based knowledge it takes to pursue a career in engineering.

At the local-district level, the aim is to reshape math and science classes so that they are more relevant to students. That approach makes sense, for it responds to a common complaint many unchallenged young people voice: "How does algebra (or trigonometry, or physics or whatever) relate to my life?"

That question can be answered in many ways, and one is that math and science are necessary to pursue a career in engineering. If the question then is voiced, "Why should I consider a career in engineering?", the answer is simple: There are good-paying jobs for engineers. And we need them. Without engineers, there is no solution to the problem of national dependency on foreign oil. Lacking engineers, there is no way to build roads, bridges, new shopping centers and manufacturing facilities. Without engineers, we are stuck with trans-fat-laden food. Without homegrown engineers, Michigan has no hope of becoming a center of high-tech innovation.
If those cerebral and public benefits don't impress, let's boil it down to a much more practical concern. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the lowest average starting salary for various engineer categories in 2005 was the industrial engineer, at $49,541.
We wouldn't advise anyone to go into a career for the paycheck alone. But there's a good reason engineers are paid well. They do for the rest of us that which enables Americans to enjoy an unparalleled quality of life. You don't build or sustain a modern nation or state without engineers. That's worth thinking about in math or science class.

-- Jackson Citizen Patriot