November 2006

IEEE Backs New PBS Engineering Reality TV Show for Youngsters Ages 9 to 12

By Pender M. Mc Carter

The IEEE is providing major funding for a new PBS engineering reality competition television program, "Design Squad," intended to introduce students to engaging, real-life applications of engineering concepts and to present engineering as a creative, productive career. The live-action series, aimed at 9- to 12-year-olds, borrows from the popular TV reality competition format. The brainchild of the producers of ZOOM, "Design Squad" premieres the first of its 13 episodes on PBS stations nationwide during National Engineers Week 18-24 February 2007.

In addition to the weekly program, "Design Squad" will include a Web site, e-zine and engineering outreach campaign. The IEEE will be recognized for its contribution in announcements at the beginning and end of each program, and the organization's name will be included in materials distributed electronically as well as in the outreach campaign to teachers and students. IEEE participation in the program will complement the organization's ongoing educational outreach efforts through Engineers Week, the Teacher In-Sevice Program, TryEngineering.org, and Women in Engineering. The program will be seen in Canada, be available on the digital "Go" channel for students, and be accessible on the Web in streamed video, and will include some educational materials in Spanish.

Over 13 episodes, two teams of high school students (ages 16–19) design, build and test whimsical machines and innovative products — everything from a wireless light and dance show to an automatic pancake maker — for real clients. Guided by two engineer hosts (a male and female twenty-something duo), "Design Squad" teams are scored for their ability to think outside the box and meet (or surpass) the demands of the challenge at hand.

While the challenges the youngsters face are intended to be light and entertaining in order to capture the target audience's attention, "Design Squad" consists of three interrelated strands: content areas, the engineering design process, and problem-solving habits of the mind. Each episode will explore one or more aspects of five content areas: communication, manufacturing, construction, transportation and bioengineering technologies.

In the final episode, the top two scorers battle for the Grand Prize: a $10,000 college scholarship from the Intel® Foundation. To make real-world connections for viewers, improve the public image of engineering, and inspire students to believe that engineering is accessible to them, each "Design Squad" episode profiles a real engineer, while the program's Web site looks behind the scenes, offering games, video clips and an e-zine highlighting the role of engineers in society.

The PBS television show is accompanied by an outreach campaign to increase students' awareness, curiosity, and knowledge of engineering, and to dispel common myths about engineers. "Design Squad" will host events with public television stations, after school programs, museums, and other partner organizations across the U.S. Special event and educator guides will teach informal educators and volunteer engineers how to engage and excite students with hands-on engineering activities. To support "Design Squad's" educational outreach, on 9 November, IEEE Educational Activities and IEEE-USA volunteers and staff participated in a summit at the National Academy of Engineering in Washington, D.C.

Marisa Wolsky, "Design Squad's" executive producer, states: "Our goal is to dispel some myths about engineers — that they're boring, or that they're all men. In fact, our goal is to convey that engineers have the coolest jobs: they get to imagine the future and design for it." Kate Taylor, who has overseen several science series at WGBH, including the Emmy Award-winning "ZOOM" and "Peep and the Big Wide World," adds: "As we have done with many of our series, we're taking a TV format that kids love and injecting it with meaningful content. We know from past experience that this is a great way to get kinds excited about a subject they had never before considered appealing."

For more information on the IEEE's involvement, contact IEEE Educational Activities Doug Gorham at d.g.gorham@ieee.org or IEEE-USA's Pender McCarter at p.mccarter@ieee.org. To view sample programs, visit the "Design Squad" preview Web site at http://pbskids.org/designsquad.

Pender M. McCarter, APR, Fellow PRSA, is IEEE-USA's director of communications and public relations, and has been an editor and associaton executive in high-tech communications for more than 30 years. Comments may be submitted to todaysengineer@ieee.org.