A Spotlight Message from

EIC President, CEO & Co-Founder

Spotlight On...includes information and depiction suggestions about engineers for YOU...the creative 

community.  

February was an exciting Month for Engineers. The 60th Anniversary of National Engineers Week (2/20-2/26) gave special thanks and recognition to engineer volunteers. Programs and workshops were designed to reach out to both current and future generations of engineering talent. Another successful week which raised public understanding and appreciation of engineers' contributions to our society.

If you don't want to miss out on the developing trends, read on for facts, depiction suggestions and engineering biographies that are designed for new story lines or characters. In this issue of Spotlight On...Engineering we highlight and remember recent Real Stories and Creative Applications. Remember Kelly Schable, Reid Bronson and Kareem Muhammad? All Boeing engineers, who turned their childhood passions into fulfilling, full time careers.

Engineering is all about finding new, innovative ways to solve problems and doing so takes a great deal of creativity and inspiration. Consider focusing on the creative side of engineering in your next storyline! 

 Celebrate the Art of Making a Difference!

Get Inspired!  

Kareem Muhammed

Boeing Enterprise Auditor, former Thermal Systems Engineer

B.S. Mechanical Engineering

M.S. Mechanical Engineering

M.S. Systems Architecture and Engineering

It isn't often that someone can trace the origin of his professional career to a middle school presentation. Kareem Muhammad can; he still has the pamphlet from Westinghouse Electric. Kareem was twelve years old the day two Westinghouse engineers spoke to his class about the endless opportunities in the engineering field. From that day on, Kareem followed every step in the pamphlet's recommended path to becoming an engineer. He was fortunate to have wonderful opportunities to pursue math and science in middle and high school, participating in the Queens Bridge to Medicine program, the Caltech Young Engineering and Science Scholars (YESS) program, and the Horizons Exploration Program (HEP) at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.

Today, Kareem works for Boeing and has been recognized both within the company and by outside organizations for his dedication to and achievements in the field of engineering. He was the recipient of the 2009 Space & Intelligence Systems World-Class Engineering Award for the area of Execution and the 2010 Black Engineer of the year Award (BEYA) for Most Promising Engineer. He was also honored with a Certificate of Recognition from his Program Director, acknowledging his performance, teamwork, and contributions to a Thermal Systematic Review Team, a two-year effort that resulted in the design and creation of 16 detailed thermal models. He is quick to note, though, that all of this comes from doing what he loves.

Creative Applications

"A Real Role Model" 

-Kareem Muhammed

1. Today, more and more women and minorities are entering engineering educational programs and professions. In fact, diversity in engineering is highly desired. According to the national Academy of Engineering, the lack of diversity in engineering labs, boardrooms, and design studios "diminishes the range of perspectives and the diversity of ideas/solutions available to the engineering profession." Consider depicting an engineering team that uses diversity of opinions, experiences, and cultural backgrounds to its advantage.

2. Kareem is an example of a role model who is recognized for his amazing accomplishments and has clearly put his education to excellent use. Consider depicting a young black male who aspires to and achieves greatness in science or engineering.

Kelly Schable

Boeing Account Manager, 737 Customer Engineering

B.S. in Aerospace Engineering

M.S. in Systems Architecture & Engineering with a specialization in Engineering Management

By the time Kelly was in the fourth grade, she had mastered all of the projects in her house that had to do with putting things together. So, for Christmas one year, she asked for a chemistry set and a microscope. She got both! After spending hours mixing things together (and turning her mother's carpet blue) and looking at every insect she could find under the microscope, Kelly proudly told her fourth grade teacher during "career day" that she wanted to be a scientist.

During her junior year of high school, her math teacher told Kelly that she should become an engineer. Kelly is from a small, rural, and economically depressed region of the country where there were no engineering jobs within 200 miles of her hometown. That summer, a teacher sent her to an engineering camp at the University of Illinois. When she returned home, Kelly told everyone that she wanted to be an engineer. They all laughed and asked which railroad company she was going to work for and if she was excited to drive trains. Kelly knew then that she would have to move far from "home" to find an engineering job.

In college, Kelly studied aerospace engineering and it was the toughest four years of her life. During her first internship, she worked on spacecraft for NASA at a company in Colorado. That summer, she learned how to translate classroom theory to the real world and also what it was like to live far away from home. "It was awesome. I took on several other internships and upon graduation, I moved to the West Coast to start my career in engineering," Kelly said.

Kelly loves her work as an engineer, especially as an aerospace engineer. Not only is the field challenging, complex, and rewarding, but she believes that she is helping to make the world not only a better place, but a smaller place by helping to connect families, businesses, and cultures from around the world.

Creative Applications

 "Holiday Time & Summer Fun"

-Kelly Schable 

1. Many great children's movies feature a magical moment at Christmas and most television shows have a special holiday episode. Consider depicting a moment like Kelly's, when a gift is literally life-changing. The possibilities of trouble-making on-screen hilarity are endless when science and an excited child are combined!

2. Coming of age stories are classics. Kelly's life took a new turn when she went far away to an engineering camp at the University of Illinois. Consider depicting a traditional story - teenage summer camp - with a twist: engineering!

3. Many great plots begin with a "country girl" moving to the "big city." Kelly had to leave behind her home and move many miles away to chase her dream career. Consider making the next heroine of a romantic comedy or "fish out of water" story an engineer.

Depiction Suggestions 

Mechanical engineers are visionaries who can look at various materials and know how to use them to make something useful to a situation - think of MacGyver without the fighting skills. (Although surely some of them are in pretty good shape.) Are there situations in your film or TV show where a female or male character with a mechanical engineering background might come in handy? Remember those guys with the duct tape in "Apollo 13"? Imagine if John McLain had a mechanical engineer sidekick in those "Die Hard" movies...

If you've got a contemporary or futuristic sci-fi movie or show and there isn't an aerospace engineer among your characters, you may be missing some real opportunities. These are the folks who might design the ships used by the characters in "Armageddon" to save the earth from a meteor. They use their science and engineering skills to ensure that an air or space vehicle is aerodynamically sound to fly and can withstand the forces applied against it in various situations. They develop new technology to meet new needs, making craft more effective, strong, and capable. The same holds true for missiles and other flying defense systems. They also decide what materials to use. And think about that airplane designer in "Flight of the Phoenix" who comes up with a way to build a new plane to escape the desert.

"A Family Tradition" 

-Reid Bronson

1. Reid carries on a n important tradition in his family by furthering the field of American aviation. Engineering, on its own, is often an abstract or confusing concept for the average television or movie viewer. But, when it is portrayed in the context of aviation and a family's passion for planes, helicopters and fighter jets, it becomes possible to see engineering as a means to a very awesome end. Consider portraying how engineers have been and continue to be responsible for some of the coolest developments in aviation history.

2. Reid's career is a testament to the power of films to encourage young people to pursue fields such as engineering. The Star Wars series and the Right Stuff were films that helped a young boy envision the excitement and potential for a career in aviation engineering. You may not realize that your science-fiction films or action-comedies are influencing the futures of your audience members, but they are! Remember to use EIC's First Draft services so that your films are not just awe-inspiring, bug accurate.

Volume I, Issue IX

Volume I, Issue VIII

Volume I, Issue VII

Volume I, Issue VI

Volume I, Issue V

Volume I, Issue IV

Volume I, Issue III

Volume I, Issue II

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