UMaine Students Heading for Engineering Ambassadors Workshop

Two University of Maine undergraduate engineering students are heading this week to a national engineering ambassadorship-training workshop for students interested in creating engineering ambassador outreach programs at their institutions.

The workshop will be held Aug. 16-19 at Penn State University.

Sheila Pendse, program development associate in the UMaine College of Engineering, will accompany Devin Rose of Jay, Maine, and Morgan Stuart of Winslow, Maine, on the trip. Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Penn State’s Electro-Optics Center and Penn State’s College of Engineering, the workshop will include students from 21 institutions throughout the country. The students will make competitive presentations about how they would introduce engineering into local schools and communities. Selected university teams will be eligible for a visit from workshop sponsors for further training for an expanded core of engineering ambassadors. The workshops will cover communication techniques and strategies to implement local engineering ambassador programs in 2012-2013.

The program’s goal is to establish a national network of collaborating engineering ambassador programs working together to enhance the messages that middle and high school students receive about engineering careers, in addition to enhancing the leadership abilities of the next generation of leaders in the engineering field, according to Pendse.

Contact: Sheila Pendse, (207) 581-2225