NAE Celebrates 2023 Engineers Week

Engineers Week
February 19-25, 2023

Creating the Future

“Scientists study the world as it is, engineers create the world that never has been.”                                       aeronautic engineer Theodore von Kármán

Engineers think big – at scale. They create awe-inspiring innovations. They push innovation and make revolutionary changes. They find solutions to today’s challenges, visualize a future of possibilities, and create the technologies and products that shape our lives. From life-saving vaccines to space travel to our global connectedness through the World Wide Web, engineering touches every facet of our lives… and engineers make it possible.

Engineers Week is both a celebration of engineers and an opportunity to increase the understanding of and interest in engineering and technology careers. With that in mind, Engineers Week seeks to:

• raise public awareness of engineers' positive contributions to our quality of life;
• promote recognition among parents, teachers, and students of the importance of a technical education and a high level of math, science, and technology literacy; and
• motivate youth to pursue engineering careers in order to provide a diverse and vigorous engineering workforce.

Since its founding in 1951, Engineers Week has grown into a formal coalition of more than 70 engineering, education and cultural societies, and more than 50 corporations and government agencies — all of whom are dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce.

Celebrating Engineers and Engineering

• Frontiers of Engineering (FOE)

Take the Ligler-Wagoner Challenge!  Spearheaded by Frances and George Ligler and Robert and Robyn Wagoner, this challenge will raise the profile of FOE and ensure its longevity for future generations through a solid foundation of unrestricted support. The goal of the challenge is to raise $200,000 for FOE by December 31, 2024. Each dollar raised will be generously matched 1:1 by the Liglers and Wagoners to double the proceeds to enhance FOE innovation for past, current, and future participants. Donate today.

• EngineerGirl

Become a mentor or ambassador, compete in the EngineerGirl writing contest, or try your hand at engineering by building a bridge, a battery, or a sorting machine through our many hands-on activities.

• NAE Awards

Celebrate engineering leaders by nominating an engineer for a NAE Award. Past awardees include the inventors of LEDs, creators of lithium-ion batteries, and LASIK eye surgery pioneers. Learn more about these amazing innovators.

• NAE Activities, Projects and Initiatives

Year-round, NAE works to identify and illuminate issues at the intersections of engineering, technology, and society that impact our quality of life. Studies, symposia, and public information activities are carried out both independently by the NAE Program Office and jointly with other units of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Check out what’s happening at NAE.

• NAE Grand Challenges for Engineering

Discover the 14 game-changing engineering goals for improving life on the planet. Announced in 2008, these Grand Challenges fall into four cross-cutting themes: sustainability, health, security, and joy of living.