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WVU ENGINEERING AND MINERAL RESOURCES Volume 3 Issue 1
Searching for
the Next
Generation of
Engineers
By Paul Darst
This article is reprinted (in part) with permission from The
State Journal, where it originally appeared on September 29,
2006.
During the past decade, the United States has graduated
fewer and fewer engineers from its colleges and
universities. Most European countries as well as some
in Asia produce far more engineers than the United States. In
an attempt to counter the downward trend, U.S. Congress in
2002 passed a measure designed to increase the number of
engineering and technical majors. As part of that program, a
group of students from the West Virginia University College
of Engineering and Mineral Resources visited seven high
schools in Kanawha and Putnam counties Sept. 21. Their goal:
to get college-bound students thinking about engineering or
technical majors.
Gary Winn, professor of industrial and management systems
engineering, is the principal investigator for the outreach
project. Winn and WVU students Erica Trump, Matt Bays,
Dave Tonker and Jim Perry visited Christie Reese’s technical
chemistry class at Winfield High School. The group discussed
not only the University’s engineering program, but also
college life in general, including how engineering involves
more than just building things.
“You can get down and dirty if you want to, but it’s a lot
broader than that,” said Trump, a junior majoring in chemical
engineering.
Students interested in fields ranging from medicine to law can
benefit from engineering degrees, Winn said. The College
offers majors in diverse areas, including computer science,
civil and environmental engineering, biometric systems,
electrical engineering, petroleum engineering, mechanical
engineering, aerospace engineering, and more.
WVU engineering students visited high schools in Kanawha
and Putnam Counties as part of the Engineers of Tomorrow
program. Left to right are Ashley Barber, Josh Kirby, WVU
engineering junior Erica Trump, and Josh Berletich.
An undergraduate degree in an engineering or technical area
can open a lot of doors for students – and a lot of money, he
said. “Good jobs are going to people who take classes just like
this one,” Winn told the high school students.
After a brief discussion, the students turned to designing a
model for a portable, temporary housing unit that can
withstand hurricane-force winds. The house would be
collapsible so several could fit inside a C-130 aircraft and
parachute into an area where a natural disaster has occurred.
The students had to design floor plans, construct models out
of Popsicle sticks and foam board, and then load-test them
using books.
Visiting high schools is not all that WVU is doing to attract
new students to the engineering disciplines. Other initiatives
include a summer experience program where students come
up to the Morgantown campus; an early interest in math
program, in which students with the best math skills are
identified by the third or fourth week of school; and
remediation programs to help those students who do not
perform well in technical classes.
Increasing the number of students with engineering and
technical majors will only make West Virginia’s future
brighter, Winn said. “For West Virginia, it means economic
development.”
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