Global Marathon For, By and About Women in Engineering and Technology, scheduled for March 7-12

The only ‘town square’ meeting for women engineers around the world, the Global Marathon For, By and About Women in Engineering and Technology, scheduled for March 7-12, is out to change the conversation about girls and how they view engineering as a career. In a survey conducted for the National Engineers Week Foundation girls were interested in math and science—the tools that engineers use—but simply did not know how those disciplines could translate into an engineering career.   

The Global Marathon is an annual worldwide forum connecting professional women, college students and girls for virtual and in-person conversations about education and careers in engineering and technology. It is the only event of its kind where women in engineering and technology from a diverse range of disciplines, experience levels, ages, cultures, industries and employers will come together to participate in real-time, live group events, webcasts, Internet chats and teleconferences in any of 6 regions on these dates:

            March 7- Kick off and North America program

            March 8 – China

            March 9 – India

            March 10 – Middle East/Africa

            March 11 – Latin America (Mexico/Brazil)

            March 12 – UK/Europe and close in North America 

The Marathon opens off with a welcome from Honorary Chair Nan Mattai, Senior Vice President
Rockwell Collins Engineering & Technology to the female engineering community and girls around the world.

Some of the other programming highlights for 2011 include:

·         Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, IA will host “High School Choices: Am I Ready for College Engineering?”

·         IBM in San Jose, CA will host “Working Across Global Boundaries: Improving Education Opportunities and Lives of East African Women.” 

·         China’s sessions include a Global Marathon poster competition with the theme “I LOVE Science” for primary school students. Other sessions include a campus talk entitled “The Future Is in Your Hands,” for girls from China’s top universities. Finally, young women engineers from IBM and other companies will discuss “Building Your Confidence in Technical Careers.”

·         Motorola and IBM in India plan to reach nearly 1,000 pre-university and university students with programs in cities around the country, including Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Gurgaon, Noida and Tuitcorin. The first event features robot activities, science exhibitions, group activities, talks and presentations. The second event, for older students, includes a keynote speech from a senior IBM executive, along with an inter-college poster contest. 

·         In the Middle East, women engineers will discuss personal experiences and how their technical talents can contribute to community service.

·         In Brazil, the audience will hear from Dupont’s Head of Engineering, Jocelyn Scott.

·         The UK/Europe program includes an address by Dr. Sarah Buck, the first woman president of the Institution of Structural Engineers in the UK. 

To participate in changing the conversation, join the Marathon at www.globalmarathon.net.

Sponsors for the 2011 Global Marathon include: Rockwell Collins, Motorola Foundation and ExxonMobil.

About Engineers Week

The National Engineers Week Foundation, a formal coalition of more than 100 professional societies, major corporations and government agencies, is dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing understanding of and interest in engineering and technology careers among young students and by promoting pre-college literacy in math and science. Engineers Week also raises public understanding and appreciation of engineers' contributions to society.  Founded in 1951, it is among the oldest of America's professional outreach efforts. Co-chairs for 2011 are Raytheon and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

 For more information, visit www.eweek.org.