Engineering Inc. - May/June 2008 - 4

NEWS & NotES T Member Firms Make Fortune’s List of ‘Best Companies to Work For’ “This ranking is a testament to the core values that our firm strives for every day by respecting our colleagues, delivering value for our clients and sharing the rewards of success with our employee owners.” At No. 73, the final ACEC member on the list was Portland, Ore.–based engineering consultancy David Evans and Associates. Another employee-owned hree ACEC Member Firms— CH2M HILL, David Evans and Associates, Inc. and Kimley-Horn & Associates—recently were named to Fortune magazine’s 2008 list of “100 Best Companies to Work For.” More than 400 companies participated in the annual survey, which polls employees at the nation’s largest companies about their work environment, including questions about executive management, job satisfaction and workplace camaraderie. Participating companies also are evaluated for diversity, compensation and quality of employee benefit programs. Kimley-Horn & Associates, an engineering and land-planning firm out of Cary, N.C., was ranked No. 38. Fortune commends it for a wide range of attributes, including a diverse project portfolio and the freedom it provides employees. The firm also was recognized for encouraging employees to pursue their individual career goals. John Atz, the firm’s senior vice president and principal regional leader, says it’s Kimley-Horn’s vision that makes it special. “Kimley-Horn is a special place to work because we all have an interest in the success of the firm,” he says. “Whether it is through a shared vision that inspires folks, an open communication policy that informs staff, a bonus program for all employees that rewards performance or a generous retirement plan that ensures a financial legacy, we all see how we can contribute and be recognized.” At No. 54 on this year’s survey was Englewood, Colo.–based engineering and construction services firm CH2M HILL. CH2M HILL was commended for its competitive compensation and benefits packages, open communications practices and employee ownership culture, where employees own 100 percent of company stock. “We owe a huge thanks to every one of our employees whose collective efforts truly make CH2M HILL a great place to work,” says Chairman and CEO Ralph Peterson. 4 ENGINEERING INC. MAY / JUNE 2008 firm, David Evans was noted for its overtime pay structure, which allows all employees—salaried and hourly—to earn additional pay. Salaried workers reportedly are paid hourly wages and hourly workers are paid time and a half. David Evans, the company’s founder and chairman, says keeping employees happy and motivated is the key to its success. “Only by continuously trying to make our company the best place to work can we retain the outstanding, creative and dedicated people we have,” Evans said. School-Based Engineering Efforts Target Younger Learners B uoyed by concerns that the United States needs to produce more engineering graduates to compete with those from other increasingly industrialized nations—China and India, to name two— several organizations and even some concerned corporations are launching programs designed to attract young students, some as early as elementary school, to the engineering profession. The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)—which released a report recently stating that 62 percent of engineering degrees awarded at U.S. colleges and universities in 2006 went to foreign nationals, up from 50 percent in 2000—maintains a website dedicated to attracting more youths to the profession. Dubbed ASEE K12 Engineering Center, the online destination is a portal for students and educators with access to a range of engineering resources, including a free publication about why K–12 engineering education is important, a national database of public-private outreach campaigns supporting engineering education in public schools, and a free guidebook to engineering education for high school students, among other tools. Simulation and modeling software provider Autodesk offers a link to its Student Engineering and Design Community, where teachers and aspiring engineers can download free graphics and design programs, often scaled-down versions of technologies used by professional engineers. Siemens, the worldwide engineering and technology provider, offers a link to its Global Opportunities in Product Lifecycle Management program, a massive grant and educational effort that reportedly reaches some 956,603 students annually at 9,355 participating educational institutions. ASEE is not alone in its efforts. A longtime proponent of better science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) instruction in schools, chip-maker Intel Corp. has sought to generate interest through its Engineering is Elementary curriculum, a collection of technical courses created by the Boston-based Museum of Science. That program now is in use by 500 schools across the country. The Society of Women Engineers offers dozens of foundation-funded programs, school-based activities, contests and special regional events intended to pique girls’ interest in engineering as a potential career. And Project Lead the Way, a nonprofit organization that supports better STEM education in schools, offers a suite of design and technical courses that K–12 schools can integrate throughout their standard curriculum. The jury still is out on whether these programs are having their desired effect. But ASEE plans to release a study in conjunction with the National Research Council later this year examining the impact of such efforts during primary school.

Engineering Inc. - May/June 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc. - May/June 2008