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Monday, April 5, 2010

Success Patterns for Engineers from Middle School Through College

Dr. Cindy P. Veenstra

Abstract

Dr. Veenstra recently earned her Ph.D. in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan on "Modeling Freshman Engineering Success". With only 7% of all high school students interested in an engineering career, she is concerned that we do not have programs in place that encourage more high school students to consider engineering careers. Cindy will give an overview of her research on freshman engineering retention and discuss factors that help student succeed in engineering. She will also discuss changes that need to be implemented in the k-12 school systems to encourage students to consider engineering and science careers. She will discuss the innovative National Academy of Engineering research that shows we must change the way we talk about engineering so that high-school students and especially girls are more attracted to engineering.

This is a presentation that spouses would also enjoy and find informative.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Veenstra is a consultant with Veenstra and Associates (www.veenstraconsulting.com), a firm that helps colleges improve their student retention and graduation rates. She specializes in the retention of engineering and science majors. She has over 20 years experience in quality engineering and management and helped Motorola implement its six sigma program.

She is a past Section Chair of the ASQ Ann Arbor Section and served on the executive committee for 20 years. For several years she led the section's K-12 outreach efforts. She received the section’s Bajaria Medal for Leadership in 2004 and is an ASQ Fellow, nominated by the Ann Arbor Section. She is currently the Chair-elect for the ASQ Education Division and served on the ASQ Higher Education Advisory Council for the past three years. She recently authored an article in the ASQ Journal for Quality and Participation's special issue on Quality in Education that discusses the Obama administration's education program (Quality in Education: What's Next?).