P1 1WHEREAS, Engineers use their professional, scientific, and
2technical knowledge and skills in creative and innovative ways to
3solve problems; and
4WHEREAS, Engineers have helped meet the major
5technological challenges of our time, from rebuilding damaged
6infrastructure after natural disasters, to designing an information
7superhighway that will speed our country into the future; and
8WHEREAS, Engineers are a crucial link in transforming
9scientific discoveries into useful products, such as the creation of
10lifesaving biomechanics to help us live longer; and
11WHEREAS, Engineers plan, design, and direct the manufacture
12or construction of nearly everything with which we interact on a
13daily basis, from computer microchips to highways, roads, and
14bridges, residential and commercial buildings, to automobiles and
15airplanes; and
16WHEREAS, Engineers are needed today and in the near future
17to design and develop crucial infrastructure, including, but not
18limited to, levees and waterways, roads and bridges, and
19universities and schools; and
20WHEREAS, Not only is a diverse and vigorous engineering
21workforce needed, but we also need to encourage young men and
22women to pursue the field of engineering as a career; and
23WHEREAS, In 2010, the National Academy of Sciences, the
24National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine
25issued a followup report entitled “Rising Above the Gathering
26Storm, Revisited,” highlighting STEM (Science, Technology,
P2 1Engineering, Mathematics) education as a cornerstone to improving
2America’s global prosperity through innovation; and
3WHEREAS, The same report documented that fewer young
4people are choosing the fields of science and engineering at a
5critical time when an aging workforce is on the verge of retiring;
6and
7WHEREAS, The 2007 National Academy of Sciences report
8entitled “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” highlighted the
9worrisome trend that fewer students are now focusing on
10engineering in college at a time when increasing numbers of
11today’s engineers are nearing retirement; and
12WHEREAS, A 2007 report by the California Council on Science
13and Technology determined that California faces a persistent and
14critical shortage of fully prepared mathematics and science
15teachers; and
16WHEREAS, National Engineers Week provides professional
17engineers, community groups, teachers, parents, and students with
18the opportunity to interact with and learn about the many facets
19of the engineering profession through special educational programs;
20and
21WHEREAS, National Engineers Week aims to increase the
22understanding of and interest in engineering and technology
23careers, and it also aims to promote literacy in mathematics and
24science; and
25WHEREAS, National Engineers Week is celebrated during the
26week of George Washington’s birthday to honor the contributions
27that our first President of the United States, a military engineer
28and land surveyor, made to engineering; now, therefore, be it
29Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, That the Senate
30hereby recognizes the week of February 17, 2013, to February 23,
312013, inclusive, as National Engineers Week and acknowledges
32the services bestowed upon the citizens of California by engineers;
33and be it further
34Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
35this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
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