A new magazine is geared toward getting students charged up about engineering studies by going to where young people live and breathe: the Internet.
The American Society for Engineering Education has launched eGFI —Engineering: Go For It, a digital magazine with a bevy of online features, which includes articles on engineering’s role in the workplace and the world, videos, search engines, and links to Twitter and Facebook.
The digital magazine grew out of an online version of a print product offered by the ASEE, which is based in Washington. That magazine circulates to about 400,000 readers, said Bob Black, ASEE’s deputy executive director. On the new site, students can search for a topic—say, alternative energy or biomedical engineering—and they’ll be provided with articles, videos, and other relevant links. The goal is to create a resource for both students and teachers to use in class, and for young students to look at in their spare time, Black told me.
The ASEE plans to rework the site continually to draw more young people in. One idea the organization is kicking around is to arrange engineering contests online. Another is to stage regular quizzes, with prizes for students.
Going online, and building upon existing features, gives the magazine “wider appeal,” Black said. “The great thing about the Internet is it’s dynamic.”