Courtesy of eGFI
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Watch Dean of Invention make engineering come to life Fridays at 10 pm with unbelievable inventions of the future.
eGFI is on a mission: to get kids interested in engineering and to expose them to the endless possibilities that studying engineering can open up.
It's the American Society for Engineering Education's K-12 outreach program that, since 2003, has reached more than 1.7 million students with its print magazine. The program, which got its name from the first editions of the magazine, "Engineering, Go For It!," partners with universities, corporations, foundations, and government agencies. It involves several components: a magazine, interactive website, and materials targeted specifically for both teachers and students.
There's room for parents to get involved, too. Think your kids would want to learn about the making of Avatar? This is the program for you.
The aim is to grab all kids' attention, but the target is minorities and females in particular.
Kids can visit the site for inspiration—they can watch videos on everything from paper batteries to pants that function as a drum set, and read about engineering inventions from sustainable energy solutions to an alarm clock you have to chase. Or they can turn to the site for leadership: to meet other students who have chosen engineering as their career path and why, and what engineering can actually look like in the workplace.
Teachers who subscribe get a newsletter, usually focused on a particular theme, that includes fresh lesson plans, activities, and resources every week. Students get their own newsletter, one that eGFI says "focuses on the latest gadgets, the coolest inventions, and the most exciting discoveries and relates them to engineering."
The teacher newsletter has more than 16,000 subscribers, and the student's has more than 2,400. Anyone can sign up—they just need your email. Or you can purchase eGFI materials, including cards that explain, if you need it, the top engineering disciplines.
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