It's never too early to plant a career seed in a child's mind, so Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. (Waltham, MA), a 420-person structural and building enclosure engineering firm, will spend a day later this month teaching sixth graders theories of math and science in an interactive experience they call Engineering Day. The students will come to SGH's headquarters to hear about beam theory and construction, physical testing in a lab, heat flow in buildings, pulleys and cables, the effects of fire, and material fractures. The kids will also form a human bridge to learn more about the science behind them.
Does your firm host similar interactive days for kids? What else do you do to get young people interested in becoming engineers, architects, and environmental consultants? Have you ever hired someone who you first met on one of these school field trips?
I've got to say, we have been involved in tons of these types of programs over the years and the one we consistently see the best return out of is the ACE Mentoring program. Having said that, the best one we have as a story is this. We hired an engineer, Jen, who had heard a presentation on engineering ethics I had given as part of an overall high school program where kids learned about how ethical decision making plays a role in business of all kinds. Jen remembered the presentation while in college, and switched from chemical engineering to civil/structural. She interned with us out of college, and then came on as a full time engineer. She takes her PE exam this spring. The crazy part of the story? Her mom was my 6th grade math teacher, and was one of the best teachers I ever had. Her mom is also heavily involved in Mathcounts. Don't let anyone tell you it doesn't make a difference.
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