Help for Engineers Interested in Public Service
By Russ Harrison

Local school boards must discuss how and when to teach evolution.

Towns and cities must build and maintain water treatment systems and other infrastructure projects.

States want to attract and nurture high-tech companies.

In each of the aforementioned cases, government policy requires an understanding of science, math and/or engineering.  Having someone with a technical background on the local school board, city council or in the state legislature would be enormously helpful in crafting those policies.  But, traditionally, engineers and scientist have been reluctant to get directly involved with politics. 

In an effort to encourage engineers to overcome their hesitation, IEEE-USA has joined forces with a coalition of engineering and science associations to provide training on how to run for public office.

On 5 December, IEEE-USA will be hosting a Campaign Education Workshop to teach engineers and scientists how to get elected.  This one day workshop will be held at Georgetown University in Washington, DC and will involved people from across the political spectrum. 

Most participants will have little or no political experience, although some will have experience to share. Workshop topics will include:

• fundraising

• messaging

• hiring staff

• media relations

• building a campaign team

Hosted by Scientists and Engineers for America (SEA), and run by some of the country’s best and most experience political consultants, the workshop will not be an academic conference.  Rather, it will be a hands-on practical lesson in what it takes to win an election. 

Engineers have a set of skills and knowledge that the political system often lacks, yet needs.  From their ability to understand complex systems and problems to their comfort with numbers, engineers are a huge asset to any town council, state legislature or school board.  Unfortunately, few engineers have taken up the challenge and actually run for office.

IEEE-USA would like to help you correct this omission.

More information on the workshop can be found at http://sharp.sefora.org/campaign-training/workshops/.  The site also has video from the first Campaign Workshop, held last year, and other resources for emerging public servants.

If you have questions, please contact IEEE-USA staffer Russ Harrison at (202) 530-8326 or r.t.harrison@ieee.org.