SWE - Spring 2009 - (Page 25)

Engineering sional fellowships on Capitol Hill funded by scientific and engineering societies. AAAS pays for two congressional fellowships. The association is working to recruit more scientific and engineering societies to sponsor the congressional fellowships, but Robinson concedes that the economic crisis is making it difficult. The fellows are mostly doctoral-level scientists and engineers — although master’s level engineers with three years of experience may also apply — from early to senior career stages. The number of applicants for the 2009 fellowships, which start in September, soared 48 percent, to 623. The number who applied for AAAS’ two congressional fellowships jumped 59 percent, to 140. Robinson attributed the increased interest to excitement about President Obama’s emphasis on science and technology’s importance, AAAS’ expanded outreach to nonprofits and businesses, as well as academia, concerns among Ph.D.s about the job market, and AAAS’ marketing on the Web and on social-networking sites. The executive branch fellowships are offered in four program areas: Diplomacy; National Defense and Global Security; Health, Education and Human Services; and Energy, Environment, Agriculture and Natural Resources. Fellows are placed in more than 12 agencies. working, and have little scientific or technical knowledge or experience. “They have political science backgrounds,” she said. She had always been interested in public policy, and when a project she managed started to wind down, Layne learned about the fellowship from the discipline-based society she belongs to, the American Society of Civil Engineers. The congressional fellowships require fellows to “peddle their resumes” to congressional offices with the goal of working for a representative, a senator, or on a committee staff, she said. Chance of a lifetime Peggy Layne, P.E., F. SWE, program director of AdvanceVT at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., credits her congressional fellowship experience with moving her career in a new direction and providing invaluable lessons about policymaking. AdvanceVT is one of several university programs funded by the National Science Foundation to increase the number and success of women faculty in science and engineering. Layne worked for Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., during her fellowship. “I came to have a high level of respect for the people and the level of integrity of the people I dealt with,” she said. She came to understand that rather than cogs in a giant wheel, government employees are talented people who add value to its workings. Layne, who served her fellowship in 1998-99 during former President Clinton’s impeachment trial (she describes the time as “pretty wild”), noticed that most congressional staffers are fresh out of college, very smart and hard Serving as a fellow on the staff of Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., left, took Peggy Layne’s career in a new direction. Layne, who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in environmental and water resources engineering, realized her goal of working on environmental policy by working for a Florida senator whose jurisdiction included issues where her expertise added great value. “I grew up in the Seventies, and protecting the environment was a really hot topic,” said Layne, who served as national president for the Society of Women Engineers in 1996-97. She graduated from high school in Lynchburg, Va., in 1976 and found herself at the peak of the growth curve of women entering the engineering field. She chose Vanderbilt University for undergraduate work because of its environ- “I did many things that were similar to my work as an engineering consultant: I gathered information, synthesized it into brief reports, talked to people on the phone, and made recommendations to the senator.” - Peggy Layne, P.E., F. SWE SWE SPRING 2009 25

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of SWE - Spring 2009

SWE - Spring 2009 Heritage Club Contents President's Note View from the Executive Suite Editor’s Page Honoring Women’s History Public Policy Update First Lady: The “Second-Hardest Job in America” Bringing Science and Engineering into Public Policy At the Intersection of Engineering and Public Policy From Research to Reality Coffee Table Dialogues Membership Information & Calendar A&B Winning Essays from the Lava Lounge Engineering World: Issues • Events • Technology • People Point of View: Your Role in Public Policy Career Toolbox: Communicating with Congress; Finding Your Voice Corporate Partnership Council Media Shelf: Women’s History Opportunity Index SWE Scrapbook: Dressed for Success

SWE - Spring 2009

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