Engineering academies to combat the "New American Dilemma".

DATA FROM THE BUREAU OF LABOR Statistics say that two of the five fastest-growing occupations in the next five years will be engineering related and that the supply of engineering professionals has failed to meet market demands. In an effort to address this issue, the National Academy Foundation (NAF), a partnership of business and education leaders that sustains a nationwide network of public career-themed academies, recently announced at its first corporate education summit an initiative to bring more educational opportunities in the field of engineering to urban minority students throughout the nation.

In collaboration with Project Lead the Way (PLTW), a nonprofit engineering curriculum and professional development program, and the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME), the initiative will create 13 new Academies of Engineering (AOE) for the 2008 school year, following a year of planning that began in July 2007. Jon Reinhard, AOE project director, hopes to see the Academies grow to a network of 110 by 2010.

Irving McPhail, executive vice president and chief operating officer of NACME, calls the shortage of U.S. engineers-especially among women and underrepresented minorities--the "new American dilemma."

With mentoring and internship opportunities supported by partnerships with Fortune 500 firms, McPhail says the AOE initiative is a deliberate effort to actively engage students in engineering disciplines and "connect what they learn in the classroom to real-world problem-solving situations."

Reinhard adds that integration across all subjects--core areas like language arts and social studies included--is at the heart of the Academies' goals. "We're for all kids, and what we're really doing is setting the stage for postsecondary and real-world success."

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NAF currently serves over 50,000 students in 41 states through its Finance, Hospitality and Tourism, and Information Technology Academies. The new Academies are being funded by grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Motorola Foundation, Verizon and Xerox.