08 Monday Jul 2013
Posted in Outreach Ideas
Reaching future engineers through interactive engineering projects… what a great idea!
Windmill project teaches kids science, math, engineering — GazetteXtra.
28 Friday Jun 2013
Posted in APEGBC
The following summary was distributed by the American Association of Engineering Educators’ aggregator today. The US often experiences common issues a few years ahead…this may be worth the analysis.
Engineering and Public Policy
(6/28, Lakshmi) reports that H-1B visas, which “allow highly trained professionals to work on specific projects in the United States” is becoming a divisive part of immigration reform legislation passed by the Senate. The bill will increase the annual cap on the visas from 65,000 to 180,000. Critics argue that the visas, utilized frequently for IT engineers from India, steal American jobs and can often be legally extended beyond their maximum three years. Tech companies assert that the visas are needed for them to remain competitive at a time of engineer shortages in the United States. The legislation would also install new restrictions on heavy visa-issuing companies. Visa interviews have become more strenuous in recent years because of issues in the files of engineers’ employment statuses within certain consulting firms. (6/28, Sengupta, Subscription Publication) reports that the labor lobby feels the tech industry’s real agenda with H-1B visas is to have a lower-priced, temporary and more pliant foreign workforce. They believe a real engineer shortage would lead to higher salaries and want companies to be mandated to “offer jobs to equally qualified Americans before hiring foreigners” Harvard business professor William R. Kerr indicates his research determined hiring immigrants does not help or hinder American employment. Entry-level position account for a majority of H-1B visa holders. (6/27, O’Keefe), Politico (6/28, Kim), theWashington Times (6/28, Dinan), the Washington Post (6/27, O’Keefe), the AP (6/27, Espo, Werner), the Los Angeles Times (6/27, Mascaro, Bennett), USA Today (6/27, Gomez, Davis), the Wall Street Journal (6/28, Connect, Subscription Publication) and other media sources also cover the story.24 Monday Jun 2013
One of the outreach objectives of the Association is to increase the level of participation of members in association activities. Our new president mentions in his blog that the Association appreciates when “members take the initiative” to connect (http://michaelbapty.ca/apegbc/member-engagement/), and I think that is exactly right: we have an obligation to do what we can to reach out to other members within the Association and to our communities at large.
Here in the Victoria Branch, we are making efforts to connect with each other and the public through a variety of interesting and intriguing dinner meeting activities. A few of our great successes this past year included tours of innovative companies such as
We have seen great improvements in the breadth of member participation during these dinner meetings as well as increasing numbers of the public coming to join the tours: Lots of new faces!
Thanks for your support, Victoria!
21 Friday Jun 2013
Posted in APEGBC
Tags
APEGBC, BC, engineering, equality, fairness, gender, public, reputation, Victoria
Thank you for nominating me for the 2013 APEGBC Council. I look forward with anticipation to this natural next step in my service to British Columbia and to the engineering and geoscience professions.
As I become more involved in professional community outreach, I am increasingly aware that the engineering reputation (fortunately, not so much geoscience) is having a negative impact on our youth and their parents and counsellors regarding entering the profession. I believe that, for the long-term success of engineering and geoscience in the global community, we must encourage our members to model what we hope to see as the future of our profession: gender balance and diversity.
These two topics consistently resonate with APEGBC and community members when we discuss our vision of the future, revealing a fundamental concern: fairness for all. I have heard this from professionals in small and medium enterprises and from professionals in very large corporations, from men and from women.
I believe in fairness and the inclusion of all voices at all levels. If elected to council, I will ensure all voices and needs are heard.
Governance experience to date:
For more information about me, please view my LinkedIn profile at: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/kathytarnailokhorst
Katherina Tarnai-Lokhorst, P.Eng, FEC, FGC (hon) 