Engineering Association Embarks On Campaign To Transform Industry's Image 

"Demand for Professional Engineers High, Enrollment Low" 

     Washington, D.C. - March 28, 2001 - Citing skyrocketing demand for engineers but fewer students obtaining engineering degrees, the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) will launch on April 3, 2001,  "The American Engineering Campaign," a nationwide education effort to promote the unprecedented opportunities that exist in today's modern engineering profession.

     The Campaign will demystify engineering and emphasize the exciting and innovative role engineers play in improving the quality of everyday life and solving wide-ranging societal problems.

     "It's up to us to educate the public about the exciting opportunities for engineers today.  The reality is that the future begins with engineers - from many of today's high-tech advances, to the electricity that powers our homes, to the highways, bridges and roads we use, to the medical technologies that help us live longer, healthier lives," said NSPE Executive Director Patrick J. Natale, P.E., F.NSPE.  "Engineers are inventors, innovators, leaders, and designers."

     Encompassing all disciplines of engineering, the Campaign will reach out to students and the public throughout the United States.  Among its activities, the Campaign is promoting the "Engineering in the Classroom" program, which provides engineering professionals with opportunities to talk with students about engineering.  "We will show young people how engineers change the world - from the Internet, to Disney World's new rides, to the most advanced medical devises," said Natale.

     "We are also embarking on this nationwide Campaign because we are concerned about the recent trends in the number of students receiving engineering degrees.  Education surveys reveal that the percentage of students earning engineering degrees has been steadily declining," said Natale.  "In fact, according to the Engineering Workforce Commission, between 1986 and 1998, the number of students receiving bachelor's degrees in engineering declined by 19.8 percent while the number of all bachelor's degrees awarded went up by about 20 percent."

     A recent survey of Americans by Louis Harris and Associates found that most people intuitively respect engineers but also feel they do not understand what engineers do.  Fortunately, the evidence of what engineers do is everywhere and The American Engineering Campaign will help to explain it.

     For more information about The American Engineering Campaign, please visit the Web site at www.AmericanEngineeringCampaign.org.