BILL NUMBER: SR 10 INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Padilla JANUARY 14, 2009 Relative to National Engineers Week. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST WHEREAS, Engineers use their professional, scientific, and technical knowledge and skills in creative and innovative ways to solve problems; and WHEREAS, Engineers have helped meet the major technological challenges of our time, from rebuilding damaged infrastructure after natural disasters, to designing an information superhighway that will speed our country into the future; and WHEREAS, Engineers are a crucial link in transforming scientific discoveries into useful products, such as the creation of lifesaving biomechanics to help us live longer; and WHEREAS, Engineers plan, design, and direct the manufacture or construction of nearly everything we interact with on a daily basis, from computer microchips to highways, roads, and bridges, residential and commercial buildings to automobiles and airplanes; and WHEREAS, Engineers are needed today and in the near future to design and develop crucial infrastructure, including, but not limited to, levees and waterways, roads and bridges, and universities and schools; and WHEREAS, Not only is a diverse and vigorous engineering workforce needed, but we also need to encourage young men and women to pursue the field of engineering as a career; and WHEREAS, The 2007 National Academy of Sciences report entitled "Rising Above the Gathering Storm" highlighted the worrisome trend that fewer students now are focusing on engineering in college at a time when increasing numbers of today's engineers are nearing retirement; and WHEREAS, A 2007 report by the California Council on Science and Technology determined that California faces a persistent and critical shortage of fully prepared mathematics and science teachers; and WHEREAS, There are distinguished leaders promoting the field of engineering in California, such as the California Engineering Education Council (CEEC), a nonprofit organization comprised of public and private engineers, educators, and public officials who recognize the need for more engineers to design and support the construction of California's infrastructure; and WHEREAS, CEEC is dedicated to creating and supporting programs that encourage students to enter the field of engineering, better prepare K-12 educators and students for engineering and science-related coursework, and retain engineering students at the college level; and WHEREAS, National Engineers Week provides professional engineers, community groups, teachers, parents, and students with the opportunity to interact with and learn about the many facets of the engineering profession through special educational programs; and WHEREAS, National Engineers Week aims to increase the understanding of and interest in engineering and technology careers and it also aims to promote literacy in mathematics and science; and WHEREAS, National Engineers Week is celebrated during the week of George Washington's birthday to honor the contributions that our first President of the United States, a military engineer and land surveyor, made to engineering; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, That the Senate hereby recognizes the week of February 15, 2009, to February 21, 2009, inclusive, as National Engineers Week and acknowledges the services bestowed upon the citizens of California by engineers; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.