In 2002 the World Health Organization (WHO) analyzed available data on Blindness and Low Vision (BLV) from 55 countries and applied it to the 17 WHO epidemiological subregions. Results indicate approximately 37 million people are blind and 124 million have low vision (Foster & Resnikoff, 2005). Providing opportunities for these students to…

How do cross-bracing, geometry, and base isolation help buildings withstand earthquakes? These important structural design features involve fundamental geometry that elementary school students can readily model and understand. The problem activity, Designing an Earthquake-Resistant Building, was undertaken by several classes of sixth- grade…

This column provides background science information for elementary teachers. When the author was young he used to think that the ideal design for a concert hall would contain walls that were composed of sound-absorbing material, like foam or egg cartons or such. He noticed, though, that this was not the case. Most concert halls contain curtains…

The Northrop Grumman (now Huntington Ingalls Industries, Incorporated) Apprentice School, in cooperation with several area businesses, sponsors an annual boat-design competition for high school students to increase awareness of the naval architecture profession and the shipbuilding industry. The competition engages students' math, science,…

This paper presents a new methodology to develop remote laboratories for systems engineering and automation control courses, based on the combined use of TwinCAT, a laboratory Java server application, and Easy Java Simulations (EJS). The TwinCAT system is used to close the control loop for the selected plants by means of programmable logic…

This paper presents results from a multidisciplinary program targeted at engineering education and at the development of entrepreneurial mind in telecommunications engineering students. The basic concept is rooted in a capstone-like project with the following characteristics: (i) Creation of student awareness about real world engineering…

The ACE Mentor Program provides early career exposure, mentoring, and scholarships to high school students in an attempt to encourage them to enter one of the three fields that make up the ACE acronym: (1) architecture; (2) construction; and (3) engineering. Founded in 1993 by longtime engineering consultant Charles Thornton, the program is…

Politecnico di Milano and Politecnico di Torino, the top technical universities in Italy, united their efforts in 2004 by launching a unique excellence programme called Alta Scuola Politecnica (ASP). The ASP programme is devoted to 150 students, selected each year from among the top 5-10% of those enrolled in the Engineering, Architecture and…

Professional mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) are one of the policy instruments employed in global and regional trade agreements to facilitate the mobility of skilled labour. While such agreements have been noted in the literature examining cross-border academic mobility, little is known about how they impact higher education. This paper…

The science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) state-level analysis provides policymakers, educators, state government officials, and others with details on the projections of STEM jobs through 2018. This report delivers a state-by-state snapshot of the demand for STEM jobs, including: (1) The number of forecast net new and…

This book presents essential learning approaches. It introduces educational and training activities, as well as various innovative methods aiming at the development of practical skills, in order to strengthen the continuous process of environmental education, and in particular the education for sustainable development (ESD). In doing so, it…

It only takes an hour or two of roaming the halls of Architecture, Construction and Engineering (ACE) Tech Charter High School to detect an enduring attitude of accomplishment from both the teachers and the students. This atmosphere is intentional. The school, located in Chicago, was created specifically to hone the skills of individuals choosing…

Discusses the value and use of images as information. Topics include the information in images versus text; a taxonomy of image types; resources related to images; and the use of images in architecture, engineering, advertising, and competitive intelligence. (LRW)

This article describes ways in which digital imagery can be used to enhance mathematics instruction. (Contains 6 figures.)

In a capstone course, graduate students from two universities participated in collaborative design in the architectural, engineering, and construction industries in multidisciplinary teams via the Internet. Students also developed process designs to integrate technology into multidisciplinary teamwork, combining active and reflective learning.…