IMPACT OF INNOVATIVE STUDENT PROJECT FOR THE INCREASED RECRUITMENT OF ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE STUDENTS (INSPIRESS)

摘要

Industry and community organizations have indicated that there is a significant need nationally for engineers, especially in the aerospace industry. According to a recent study conducted by the RAND Corporation, the federal STEM workforce is rapidly aging. The Department of Defense, the largest employer of engineers in the country, predicts that by June 2012, the portion of their STEM workforce eligible to retire will more than double to 69.5 percent. Likewise, NASA is seeing similar trends in its workforce. The National Research Council's 2007 report entitled, "Building a Better NASA Workforce: Meeting the Workforce Needs for the National Vision for Space Exploration," reported that the NASA workforce has been steadily aging since the early 1990s. As of 2007, the average age of a NASA scientist or engineer was 45.8 years as shown in Figure 1. In contrast, during the Apollo years, when the nation was developing the vehicles needed to begin our initial lunar exploration campaign, the average age of a NASA scientist or engineer was 26. Locally, there is an acute need in Alabama where the Alabama Department of Labor estimated that the demand for engineers in the state would be 1000+ per year for the next decade. The technical focus of Huntsville and the surrounding area is driving the state's need for engineering talent. As a result, there is a need to attract high quality students with strong science and mathematics backgrounds who will earn degrees in engineering.