Engineering Degree Online|Group Helps Needy, Motivates New Engineers

Posted by bposton on November 2nd, 2006 — Posted in engineering degree online

Let’s talk about volunteering.

Yeah, I know. When you think of volunteering, you probably think of canned food drives, nursing homes and home building.

But there’s a group of techies out there called Engineers Without Borders-USA and they’re pushing volunteering to a new heights.

They’re working on projects like improving drinking water and building irrigation systems
for crops, Engineers Without Borders-USA has student chapters based at universities
across the United States, and their mission is to implement engineering solutions and inspire new engineers in the process.

One group of students from the University of Colorado is designing and building a water
system for a village in Rwanda. Another group of students from the Colorado School of Mines worked alongside the villagers of San Pablo, Belize, to install solar panels and electrical wiring in a school, a church and other community buildings.

These guys and gals have coordinated humanitarian projects all over the world,
including Thailand, Mali, Senegal, Peru and Afghanistan.

ASME, which provided partial funding for the Belize project, has teamed up with
Engineers Without Borders to promote the involvement of ASME members and student members in future overseas projects.

So give this a thought and look this group up at your school.

Ben

, , , , ,

No Comments »

engineering degree online|Globalization Brings Forth New Era in Engineering

Posted by bposton on November 2nd, 2006 — Posted in engineering degree online

Let’s say you’re hard at work when all of a sudden you have to stop everything to fix a computer problem.

(I hate it when that happens…)

So you call your friendly computer manufacturer’s help line, where a technician diagnoses and helps you solve the problem. So back to work you go.

Now, did you realize that the technician who just saved your behind was a couple of continents away?

It’s the whole Globalization thing. Globalization is linking national economies. But it is creating some unique issues and challenges for the business world - especially in the engineering field.

I’d say that the growth of the global economy can be seen as a double edged sword.
On one hand, it gives nations (like the U.S.) the chance to reduce manufacturing costs
and to do business in a global market. But on the other hand, it becomes more challenging for a business to stay in business.

With companies working in worldwide redistribution of labor and production, engineers are starting to see and feel the impact that the global market has on their jobs.

That means that to understand all the dynamics of the global marketplace, it’s critical for you to go beyond the traditional technical skills and learn other areas such as project management, global marketing and even a foreign language or two. Yikes!! :-0

The good news is that many colleges and universities are now starting to take a new approach to training and instructing future engineers. That includes preparing students for working abroad and functioning effectively on international design teams, and it includes such coursework as studying foreign languages and project management.

Even better, some colleges and universities are also creating nontraditional academic programs and getting into distance learning to help with intercultural teaming and cross-cultural communications.

It’s a brave new world out there. May sure you’re ready to tame it!

Ben

, , , , ,

No Comments »

engineering degree online : interesting news story

Posted by bposton on October 29th, 2006 — Posted in engineering degree online

I was reading the news in my online dorm room the other night and saw an interesting story.

Seems that a grand jury in Seneca County (in Ohio I believe) indicted a new police chief on two felony counts of tampering with records and two misdemeanor charges of “falsification involving his qualifications”.

The chief was accused of misrepresenting his credentials when applying for the police chief’s position earlier this year.

At issue is that fact that he obtained a criminal-justice degree from Concordia College and University, an online degree program in the Virgin Islands.

Now he did have 16 years of experience so that should count for something, and I’m not sure if they’re actually saying that the degree is bogus, but if he’s convicted, he could get a potential prison term of one to five years and a $10,000 fine for each felony count and a maximum of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine for each misdemeanor count.

So I’ll try to keep an eye on this and let you know what happens.

But just another way to give word to the wise - make sure you check out your program!

Ben

, , , , ,

No Comments »