It's one of the year's most hotly anticipated competitions. The contenders look nervously across the wings as the host steps up to the podium. The envelope is fumbled. The noise in the room drops in anticipation. Who will take away the coveted prize... the Mississippi regional middle school Science Bowl?
You have to be realistic. Amid the hype and intrigue of ceremonies like the Oscars, a regional Science Bowl doesn't grab headlines.
I'd be a curmudgeon to deny talented artists recognition, or global audience shows like the Oscars or the Grammys. The problem is that by focusing so exclusively on celebrating the popular arts we deprive society, and more importantly children, of other people to look up to. No wonder many children's role models are, well, models.
The US now graduates more visual and performing arts majors than engineers. The same is true in the UK, where a recent survey found that while 4% of teenage girls want to become engineers and 14% scientists, 32% wanted to be models.
But can we blame youngsters for wanting to be pro-athletes and actors when the media fixates on celebrity on a daily basis?
Natalie Portman, who took home best actress Oscar last year, has more than acting prowess to distinguish herself: she was once a semifinalist in the Intel Science Talent Search competition for her research on an environmentally friendly method of converting waste into energy. Of course, the former achievement scored more highly in the publicity stakes.
President Obama has spoken about treating science fair winners the like Super Bowl Champions. Unlikely, but what steps can be taken to at least partly fulfill the rhetoric?
There's a real opportunity here. Young people are clued up on contemporary issues that need to be fixed, from climate change to food shortages. But, despite the fact that toddlers can grasp the basics of a smartphone, not enough of them aspire to become the people that can solve them: scientists and engineers.
In part, this is because of a lack of association between the technology we use - computers, cars and cell phones - and the people who develop and invent them. Because we just don't celebrate them.
This lack of cultural awareness is a problem. Fewer Americans and Brits choose to study science and engineering. Engineers and inventors are lionized in US. The problem is that the ones we celebrate are often a hundred years dead.
There are television shows that are trying to change perceptions: PBS's Everyday Edisons and the Science Channels How it's Made on the Discovery Channel for example. But these are the exceptions.
It's not just down to the media. It's up to politicians and companies to help change these perceptions and fly the flag for invention. China gets this one right. Science and engineering are increasingly ingrained in Chinese culture - so much so that most members of the Chinese Government have engineering degrees. The evidence of this mindset can be seen in thousands of high-profile Chinese infrastructure projects.
We need to help educate people on engineering and manufacturing - shaking off the outdated dreary image of factory and monotonous lab work. Today's factories aren't Dickensian work houses. They're high tech and exciting.
I was warned that if I failed my exams that I'd end up in a factory. As it happens I did, and I enjoy it immensely. Our factory has a microbiology lab with a dust mite zoo, robotic testers, an electro-magnetic chamber and 3D printers, among other things. And I get to develop ideas with 600 like minded engineers and problem solvers every day.
Engineers and scientists are not nerds but creative polymaths who think with their hands and their heads. Inspirational individuals to be respected, not mocked. Let's give them a soap box for the 21st century. Talking up science and engineering won't solve the manufacturing malaise. But it's a good, and cheap, start.
Many of the 14% of UK girls who wanted to be scientists were specifically interested in becoming forensic scientists. Why? Because of programs like CSI beamed to millions worldwide. Television can do a lot to help raise the profile of scientists and engineers. The media and politicians can too. Rather than dwelling on the delayed Dreamliner, let's applaud the latest MIT breakthrough. Let's celebrate our everyday Edisons and put them on the silver screen, during prime time.
James Dyson is the inventor of the Dyson vacuum cleaner. His Foundation runs the James Dyson Award - a global competition for student inventors and designers: http://www.jamesdysonaward.org/
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Not only does the American fixation on the cult of celebrity result in some of the worst possible specimens of humanity being regarded as "role models", but many politicians and evangelical personalities (I refuse to say "leaders", because that might make ME throw up) denigrate education in general, and science in particular.
Contrast that with other countries where education (of ALL young people) is regarded as a serious investment, and high achievers are rewarded with jobs, not outsourcing, downsizing and creative accounting to appease shareholders.
As a nation, we are getting our asses kicked in the global marketplace, and our political, religious and business people are colluding, whether they realize it or not, to make sure it continues.
What we really need to do is to make people realise that science and engineering are things that are worth perusing because they have value in and of themselves, and not just because they are a path to fame and fortune.
We don't need to make scientists sexy, we just need to remind people that science is sexy.
It's almost ALL about the perceived glamour, and the perceived 'best results'. In short, they're not looking at the odds of being one of those celebrity supermodels/sports players/etc. - just the results of it.
And for inventors in the current day, while they see Edison, they also sometimes see Tesla and the other inventors who got NOTHING for all their genius, in their textbooks! And while they emphasize Edison's inventions, they don't emphasize his wealth, his prestige in his own time.
Frankly, the only 'Celebrity Engineer' right now, would be...Steve Jobs, who just passed away. Bill Gates comes close, but, he isn't as public or prominent nowadays as Jobs was.
And, did I mention we just lost Steve Jobs?
A nice way to start here would be to bribe Hollywood to start making -real- big shots out of the scientists and geeks. Instead of, well, the Big Bang Theory - which is a nice improvement over the status quo in that they have exposure, but still depicts them as having a life that you don't really want.
I have a degree in Chemical Engineering and I love science. However my job choice was limited because lack of H1B quota. That didn't stop me from trying. Now, I have my own business, earn 6 figures, I make products and I create jobs (yes, plural), but I never have chance to set a foot in Chemical Engineering field nor taking the "precious" H1B visa. If I have to go back time, I wouldn't change a bit. My study in science lays foundation of what I'm doing now.
so it's not about H1B, it's about you!
Most of the people in the arts may not make good engineers, but at least they are creative. They often collaborate very well with engineers. Better to discourage people from going into con-men games in financial services, business management, and politics. Its really about addressing the balance between the givers and the takers, those who serve others and those who serve only themselves. Then one will naturally have engineering better rewarded socially.
To commit to the long term improvement of engineering, acknowledge most learning about engineering is done while employed and not in school. Stop treating engineering as a commodity but instead as a craft to be cultivated. Put into management people who know something about engineering and value their engineers as co-workers and not a problem to control. As for schools, older students need to spend much more time problem-solving directly in the physical world instead of regurgitating answers.
I would rather have more artists trying to give something to me and stimulating my creativity, then managers, stock brokers or politicians trying to control me or outright take something from me. Why worry about a flea and ignore the 10 ft tapeworm in your gut ?
as more and more manufacturing goes offshore so too does the demand for engineers and techs, since mfg employs the lions share of these professions.
parents and students see this and do not pursue these professions. they see that wages have stagnated and demand has dwindled. who wants to spend thousands and years studying for the next job on the boat to china or india
when I was in engineering school 30 years ago enrollement swelled because there was real demand you knew that if you graduated you were assured a good job with good wages. with all the offshoring this just isnt true any more. the local tech schools are scaling back or eliminating many industrial programs for example the CAD lab is now a storage room and the machine tool lab is sitting with the lights out most of the time. engineering is not the ticket to a stable middle class lifestyle it once was
that is why kids with the aptitude for math and science look to financial or other careers rather than stem.
bring back the demand for engineering and tech students and yu will see a new supply of them. a supply of tech workers does not necessarily create demand for them
The dynamics of the engineering labor market are so messed up. If that career sends any "market signal" at all to students, it is to look elsewhere.
And that experience is capable of increasing the pace of bringing younger workers into the field by giving them the benefit of our experience. I've been in IT since before DOS and a lot of the new people I've worked with don't understand the history, so troubleshooting becomes problematic and time consuming. The US corporations think only in the very short term. Very few want to actually "invest" in their workers. They just want profits, right now.
a lot of engineers like me end up in technical sales positions
th etwo main employers of engineers - construction and manufacturing do not generate the jobs they used to - construction not so much since the real estate bust, and manufacturing to outsourcing - same with IT fields
Even plastic Barbie dolls know that...
"The problem is that by focusing so exclusively on celebrating the popular arts we deprive society, and more importantly children, of other people to look up to. No wonder many children's role models are, well, models. The US now graduates more visual and performing arts majors than engineers."
It is worse than that, because so many have been tempted, lobbied, and attracted to the financial sector. That is where the money seems to be, and they are following by example, some of the worst actors in business that got away with fraud and theft.
A fine example their parents set for these kids!
If justice ever be served, no one would want to follow those white-collar criminals again.
we build 100 hp vacuums, and his vacs are extremely efficient....
It was his idea to put those two things together. You just mad you weren't able to do it yourself.
So stop hating on people who can put two technologies that already exist and put them together to help society.
Like the A/C and cars were invented before they put the AC in the car but the person who was able to put the AC in the car should be respected by everyone because without them millions of people would hate driving in the summer or rain
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Which only proves that they have over-produced engineers. It also shows how more engineers doesn't necessarily mean more innovation. And anyway, what's innovation supposed to be good for again?
So I designed exactly what I want, and more or less how to build it and a list of materials.
Then I gave it to an engineer friend (he designs cranes for a living), because while I had the original idea, I don't have a clue if my design will fall apart under stress, or is so over-built that it weighs a thousand pounds more than it needs to.
The idea is mine, but I couldn't do it without him.
Just saying.
Women really can do it all.
The standards that engineers/scientists are held to are astonishing. In comparison to finance, management and politics were failure is rewarded and a culture of dishonesty is the norm. You either know what your talking about or you don't. You either solve the problem or you don't. There's no such thing as..... "Well we feel that the plane might fly, and moving forward we will observe the aircrafts performance carefully". Then when said aircraft falls out of the sky, you don't get a bonus and walk off to your next job!.
The volume and complexity of technical knowledge is increasing. Competition is now global. It is simply no longer a wise investment regarding input (time, energy, delayed life choices) versus rewards (financial, lifestyle and job security) to pursue a technical career, when other careers require far less effort, give greater rewards and are fair less demanding.
None of the engineers I work with have children pursuing technical careers. A 58 year old colleagues daughter is earning twice what he's earning despite 30 yrs as an engineer producing real products (MRI's). She's an accountant with a much higher standard of living, at a younger age. This is important for mortgages/children/personal happiness and health. Why should any young westerner make so much genuine effort, for so long only to be shafted when they realise where the real money is?.