Dear Leaders of East Tennessee Engineering, Science, and K-12 STEM Educator Professional Communities,
On behalf of the East Tennessee Section of ASME and its over 400 members, I invite you and others you think appropriate in your society or professional community to attend a working breakfast at Rothchild's Catering in West Knox on Thursday, June 26, 2014 starting at 7:30 AM.
We should conclude by around 9:00 AM.
Planned attendees will include leaders in the area's engineering, science, and K-12 math and science (or STEM) educator professional communities, and some other stakeholders to K-12 STEM Education in the greater Knox County area (Knox County and adjoining Counties). We hope to have 30-50 attendees. The cost for the meal will be borne by the ET Section of ASME and other area engineering societies that wish to contribute.
The Goals of the meeting is to discuss:
1) Whether leaders of the area's engineering, science, and K-12 STEM educator professional communities agree that the area's approximately
10,000 engineers and scientists are an under-utilized resource to the area's 2000 middle and HS math and science teachers and the area's 100,000
K-12 students. If there is consensus on this point, we will then
discuss,
2) whether the area's engineering, science and K-12 STEM educator professional communities can agree to THE OBJECTIVE - at least 20% of the area's engineers and scientists donating at least 10 hours/year in K-12 STEM Education outreach activities.
No other community in Country has such an OBJECTIVE, attaining it would put this community "chest, shoulders and head" above any other community in the Country in this valuable aspect of K-12 STEM Education.
I think recent developments in software/apps to support America's rapidly growing "sharing economy" - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharing_economy and a recent article from "Wired" magazine at http://www.wired.com/2014/04/trust-in-the-share-economy/ - now make THE
OBJECTIVE possible. But it will take money to develop such an app or
software and to get a "financial angel" (I can think of several possible
candidates) to fund it, we first need to show wide support for THE OBJECTIVE in our area's engineer, science, and K-12 STEM educator professional communities.
Please feel free to call or email me with any ideas or perceptions,
including devil's advocate, that you may have. For THE OBJECTIVE to
happen, it will require an "all hands on deck" approach, so let's meet and see if there is a consensus to move forward - together.
As we get closer, I will need a more firm number of attendees to give to Rothchild's.
Respectfully,
Joseph Carson, PE
Chair, East Tennessee Section ASME
carsonj@asme.org
865-300-5831