The IEEE Board of Directors has approved US $98 000 to fund the Center for Pre-College Engineering Education, an outreach organization designed to encourage students to study engineering in college. It is hoped that the center, to be directed by IEEE Educational Activities, will be of use to educators, engineering associations, and industry.

The center’s activities include the development of a Web site for school counselors, students, teachers, and parents with links to a searchable database of information about engineering careers. The center also plans to work to expand the IEEE Teacher In-Service Program to all regions of the institute. The program offers lessons to pre-college teachers on technical subjects including motors, switches, and simple machines. Section volunteers present the lessons, which could be tweaked by volunteers from other regions to fit their needs.

Educational Activities also is developing a TryEngineering.org Web site for the center, modeled after IBM’s TryScience site. TryEngineering will be a science and technology site with interactive exhibits, multimedia adventures, and live TV camera field trips to engineering companies over the Web. One of the new center’s first efforts will involve meetings among representatives from the IEEE, teacher associations, and industry who have been involved in raising awareness of engineering among pre-college students. The goal: to discover what they would like the center to accomplish.