On December 3, 2001, Mandy Cody and Bob Heyman of KCI Technologies addressed more than 100 eighth graders at Perry Hall Middle School in Baltimore County, MD (see photo). The presentation, covering careers in engineering and the basics of bridge design, prepared students for an upcoming class project where they will construct bridges using plastic drinking straws. The ASCE Younger Member Outreach Program Volunteers plan to visit another group of students in Perry Hall's Technical Education program in February 2002. If you are interested in participating in the Outreach Program, please contact Kelly Brennan ( Kelly@members.asce.org ). Additional information concerning the Outreach Program is provided below.

National ASCE is encouraging the local ASCE Chapters to become involved in their community and to let others know what civil engineering is all about. This is especially important to ASCE because we will be celebrating ASCE's 150th Anniversary this year and it's a great opportunity to let others know what a great organization we are!

We hope to extend the program to include elementary, middle and high school levels. Kelly Brennan ( Kelly@members.asce.org ) is the chair of this committee and we are looking for other interested members to volunteer. Volunteers to this committee can simply attend committee sponsored events or they can help see them out and plan them. The time you wish to devote to the committee is up to you!

West Point Bridge Designer: This is a really neat program and is a national competition which is currently under way. If schools in our area would like to participate, we need to get involved soon. The program involves downloading a really neat bridge design package from the web and then allowing the students to build bridges that will be able to withstand certain loads. The bridges are designed using the computer program and are "checked" for structural stability. They are also judged on cost effectiveness and aesthetics. Check out the following web site for more details: http://bridgecontest.usma.edu

General School Visits: These visits are designed to expose students at various levels to all of the facets of civil engineering. We have a wide variety of activities that can be based on the PBS special "Building Big". A Powerpoint presentation is available for use in presentations as well. Anyone interested in this program should contact Kelly Brennan at Kelly@members.asce.org.

In your email, please let me know the following:
Name:
Employer:
Daytime Phone:
Area of Interest:
Would you like to help organize any of the events?
Do you know of anyone else who would be interested in outreach events?