23 ASME Student Sections Receive DAG Awards for 2006-2007

Twenty-three ASME Student Sections have been awarded a total of $25,600 in grants through the Diversity Action Grant (DAG) Program. For the first year, four of the funded proposals were submitted by ASME Student Sections located outside of the United States.

The DAG Program, supported by the Center for Leadership & Diversity, is a competitive program which awards grants ranging from $500 to $1,500 to ASME Student Sections to sponsor events which:

• Promote the inclusion of women and under-represented minorities in ASME Student Sections and in mechanical engineering;
• Inspire K-12 students to excel in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education; and/or, 
• Assist minority- and/or women-owned businesses solve engineering design problems.

ASME Student Sections receiving awards for the 2006-2007 academic year are:

ASME Student Section Awardees	Description of Funded Projects	Award Amount
Cal State Fresno	Trebuchet competition for high school students in Fresno County	$1,500
De La Salle University (Philippines)	“Honoring Women in Mechanical Engineering” (highlighting the achievements of Filipina mechanical engineers through promotional materials, talks, exhibits)	$1,350
Drexel	Greater Philadelphia Sea Perch Challenge (middle and high school competition to build an underwater robot)	$1,500
Iowa State University	“Friday After Class” event for underclassmen to find out about the engineering community at Iowa State through presentations, dinner and intramural activities	$400
Johns Hopkins	"Ready Set Design!" For Baltimore middle school girls	$1,500
Oral Roberts University	Presentations about engineering in local high schools; vehicle robot design contest for high school students at ORU	$1,500
Oregon Institute of Technology	“Project Lead the Way” (collaboration with NASA’s Crawl, Walk, Run & Fly”)	$1,500
Rochester Institute of Technology	Traveling Engineering Activity Kits (partnership with 5th grade students at a local school)	$1,500
United States Military Academy, West Point	Engineering Exposition: an evening to present engineering disciplines and societies to college underclassmen, as well as high school juniors and seniors	$1,000
Universidad del Zulia (Venezuela)	Visits, presentations and lectures to co-ed and all-women’s local high schools about engineering	$900
University of Arkansas, Fort Smith	Women and Minorities in Engineering luncheon for local high school students	$500
University of California, Irvine	Engineering barbeque during E-Week including an invitation to minority high school students to participate in the MESA program	$850
University of California, Riverside	Space and Science Day targeting elementary and middle school students, especially Girl Scouts	$1,000
University of Engineering and Technology Lahore (Pakistan)	“Science Week” in middle and high schools in earthquake-affected areas (presentations, contests, etc.)	$800
University of Guanajuato at Salamanca (Mexico)	Four contests in local high schools to promote engineering to female students	$1,500
University of Hartford	Visits to local schools to present mechanical engineering; “Engineering Days” at Hartford to expose visiting students to engineering	$900
University of Miami	BUILD IT impromptu design competition for high school students, including several all-female teams	$1,000
University of Rochester	Jack-O-Launcher competition with local 7th graders	$500
University of St. Thomas	Event about engineering for local Girl Scouts	$1,000
University of Texas, Brownsville	Forming relationships with high schools (targeting female high school students) In Matamoros, Mexico about opportunities in mechanical engineering available at UTB through school visits and “Meet and Engineer Day”	$1,500
University of Toledo	Mechanical engineering session incorporated into the University’s Girl Scout Day program in the spring	$500
Virginia Tech	Engineering Perspectives Conference for high school students to showcase job opportunities in engineering	$1,500
Youngstown State University	“Middle School Day” and “High School Day” of speakers, presentations, etc., for local high school and middle school science honors students	$1,500

The 23 proposals accepted for funding met the DAG Program criteria. In addition, many included collaboration with other organizations or campus or within the community, cost sharing of associated expenses and a method for measuring the success of the project.

For additional information on the DAG Program, go to http://www.asme.org/Communities/Diversity/Diversity_Action_Grant.cfm