New Initiative Lets You Share Your Reasons for Becoming An Engineer

A newly launched digital initiative from ExxonMobil, called Be An Engineer, is offering engineers the chance to inspire the next generation by sharing the stories of why they chose careers in the profession. The effort, which encompasses a website, television advertisements, a series of videos on CNN.Com, and various social media platforms, is intended to highlight the important contributions that engineers make to the world, and provide resources for young people who would like to learn more about the profession.

Several individuals representing ASME, one of the program’s Engineering Champions, are currently featured on the Be An Engineer website. The “Meet the Engineers” section of the site, at www.BeAnEngineer.com/meet-the-engineers, includes profiles of ASME members Christopher Mattson and Amos Winter; Noha El-Ghobashy, ASME managing director and president of Engineering for Change; Kate Gleason, ASME’s first female member; and Ursula Burns, the CEO of Xerox and recipient of ASME’s 2014 Kate Gleason Award.

Relying heavily on social engagement, engineers and engineering students are encouraged to use #BeAnEngineer on their social media profiles. The organizers of Be An Engineer are currently looking for additional content that will motivate young people to choose engineering as a career path. That’s where you can help out. By simply sharing your motivation for choosing engineering as a career, a description of what you do on the job, or the reasons why you think engineering is exciting, you can help demystify what an engineer does — and perhaps draw more middle- or high-school students into the profession.

Visit http://reasons.BeAnEngineer.com/engineers to learn more about how you can participate, and to read the terms and guidelines for submissions. Then, send your stories, ideas, quotes, pictures, videos and personal anecdotes to Reasons@BeAnEngineer.com. ExxonMobil plans to compile an ongoing list of the compelling reasons for becoming an engineer, and circulate it throughout the engineering community using social platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Vine and BuzzFeed among others.

To learn more about the program — including links to the “Build Tomorrow: Marvels of Engineering” videos on CNN.com, various engineering-related stories in the news, and social media activity including LinkedIn discussions and Vine videos — visit the Be An Engineer homepage, at www.BeAnEngineer.com.