National Engineering Society Celebrates National Engineers Week

For Release:                                          
Feb. 21, 2012  

Contact: Amanda Dean
Public Relations
678-539-1216
adean@ashrae.org

National Engineering Society Celebrates National Engineers Week

ATLANTA –Engineers don’t just shape our buildings and infrastructure; they help transform our world.

Atlanta-based ASHRAE is a partner in the National Engineers Week program (Feb. 19-25), which celebrates the contributions that engineers make to our society and encourages engineering as a career path among young students by promoting pre-college literacy in math and science. For specific information about the program, please visit www.EWeek.org.
  
“National Engineers Week is so important because it highlights the crucial role of engineering in our everyday lives” ASHRAE President Ron Jarnagin said. “Additionally, it gives engineers a chance to mentor and develop the future leadership of the industry—a key pillar of my presidential theme. The students and young engineers who are participating in this week’s events have the potential to influence and change engineering as we know it.”

ASHRAE has served as lead organization in National Engineers Week several times. The last time, in 2011, ASHRAE launched the New Faces of Engineering: College Edition program as part of the weekly celebration; College Edition complements the Society’s legacy program started in 2003, New Faces of Engineering.

New Faces of Engineering: College Edition recognizes outstanding juniors or seniors enrolled in a Bachelor of Science in Engineering program who are proving themselves to be leaders in the field of engineering.

ASHRAE’s first New Face of Engineering: College Edition is Ibrahim Adewale Ogundeko, third year, mechanical engineering, University of Lagos, Akoka, Nigeria. Ogundeko believes that if mechanical engineering were a part of speech, it would be a verb because “it is an action profession.” “Whatever is vividly envisioned, ardently desired and enthusiastically acted upon will inevitably come to pass in mechanical engineering,” he said. Ogundeko holds leadership positions in several engineering clubs and societies, including president, ASHRAE student branch; assistant secretary, Mechanical Engineering Students’ Association; and even plays for the Mechanical Engineering soccer team. Ogundeko will receive a $1,000 scholarship to help him continue in his mechanical engineering education.

The New Faces of Engineering program promotes the accomplishments of young engineers across various disciplines by highlighting their engineering contributions and the resulting impact on public welfare. The program targets those age 30 and younger.  Engineering associations, societies and government groups nominate candidates each year which are selected for recognition in USA Today.

ASHRAE’s New Face of Engineering is Amy Jarvis, mechanical engineer, Mazzetti Nash Lipsey Burch, Portland, Ore. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, Calif. As an engineer committed to local, national and global sustainability, Jarvis is one of three lead authors of the World Health Organization’s forthcoming “Healthcare in the Green Economy, How Carbon Reduction May Impact Health in Health Sector Services,” for which she developed strategies combining reduced carbon impact with improved health care and is also a contributing author to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design® (LEED) for Healthcare Reference Guide. She is the lead energy analyst and LEED coordinator for Kaiser Permanente’s first LEED project and a key team member and lead energy modeler for the Kaiser Permanente Small Hospital Big Idea Competition to develop the hospital of the future with a near-zero environmental impact.  Jarvis works with Healthcare Without Harm to develop guides for low-resource facilities to implement these strategies. Jarvis will be featured in a full-page ad in USA Today along with other participating societies’ New Faces, as well as represent ASHRAE at the Annual Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) Meeting in London, U.K., this April.

Several events will take place in conjunction with National Engineers Week, including Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (Feb. 23) and the Future City Competition (Feb. 21),  at which ASHRAE members will serve as judges and award the Best Indoor Environment and Most Sustainable Building award.

Additionally, Representatives Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.) and Donald Manzullo (R-Ill.) introduced a resolution with 23 bipartisan cosponsors supporting the goals and ideas of National Engineers Week. With the encouragement of ASHRAE, the governors of Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii and Kansas, as well as the mayor of New York City, were among those that also issued proclamations supporting EWeek.

“In these uncertain times, we always look for ways to promote future job creation, educating America's youth about engineering and science needs to be a national priority,” Lipinski said in a speech on the House floor. “Each year, National Engineers Week seeks to do just this through events aimed at inspiring students and fostering public awareness of the vital contributions made by engineers.”