Atlanta — Engineering touches every part of our day to day lives; from light bulbs to ice cream, smartphones to cars. ASHRAE is a partner in the National Engineers Week program (Feb. 17-23), which celebrates the contributions that engineers make to society and encourages engineering as a career path among young students by promoting pre-college literacy in math and science.
“My goal this year has been to broaden ASHRAE’s horizons; National Engineers Week certainly does that by showing the average person the importance of engineering in their everyday lives,” ASHRAE President Tom Watson said. “ASHRAE members and others in the built environment industry must broaden their influence to include students and young people. By applying their knowledge and the latest, creative technology, we can reach children and encourage them to consider engineering as a career choice.”
ASHRAE has served as lead organization in National Engineers Week several times. The last time, in 2011, ASHRAE launched the New Faces of Engineering: College Edition program as part of the weekly celebration; College Edition complements the Society’s legacy program started in 2003, New Faces of Engineering.
The New Faces of Engineering program promotes the accomplishments of young engineers across various disciplines by highlighting their engineering contributions and the resulting impact on public welfare. The program targets those age 30 and younger. Engineering associations, societies and government groups nominate candidates each year which are then selected for recognition in an USA Today ad.
ASHRAE’s New Face of Engineering is Ian Metzger, engineer, U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colo. He holds a Master of Science in civil, environmental and architectural engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder; and a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering and Bachelor of Arts in liberal arts, University of San Diego, Calif.
“Understanding the interactive relationship between energy efficiency, renewable energy, markets, and policies is critical to the world’s energy future,” Metzger said. “Engineers play a significant role in increasing the speed of innovation-to-marketplace processes and the scale of industry adoption.”
Metzger is dedicated to increasing the speed and scale of energy/water efficiency and renewable energy deployment. He has worked on software tool development for evaluating building energy performance and renewable energy and has conducted energy audits on some 30 facilities around the world.
ASHRAE’s top three New Face of Engineering: College Edition nominees are Paul Brockmann, fifth year, mechanical engineering, Eastern Washington University, Cheney; Jayson Bursill, fourth year, mechanical engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; and Jamin Tunstall, fifth year, architectural engineering, North Carolina Agricultural and Technological State University, Greensboro. The winner will be announced in early April.
Several events will take place in conjunction with National Engineers Week, including Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (Feb. 21); the Future City Competition (national finals held Feb. 17-21), at which ASHRAE members will serve as judges and award the Best Indoor Environment and Most Sustainable Building award; and the Discover Engineering Family Day in Washington, D.C. (Feb. 16), at which the ASHRAE National Chapter has a large hands-on exhibit. For specific information about these programs and National eWeek please visit www.EWeek.org.
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