ASTM International, one of the largest voluntary standards development organizations in the world, today announced that it is marking 2007 as the Year of the Student. As part of this initiative, ASTM will embark on a series of academic efforts aimed at building greater awareness and involvement in standardization among students and educators worldwide.
The multi-faceted Year of the Student campaign expands on ASTM’s ongoing educational outreach programs, including its popular student membership category launched in 2003. Highlighting the Year of the Student initiative will be:
• New product offerings aimed at helping professors incorporate ASTM standards in their course curricula;
• Rollout of the newly designed ASTM Campus, a focused area of the ASTM Web site for students and professors;
• College and university campus visits and training sessions by ASTM members and staff;
• Participation in the 2007 Washington Internships for Students of Engineering (WISE) Program; and
• Continued growth and promotion of Student Membership in ASTM International
New Academic Product Offerings
A major component of the Year of the Student outreach campaign is the rollout of new standards products. ASTM International enables instructors to incorporate a set of up to ten ASTM standards highly tailored to the content of an individual course. The personalized course offering called “Standards on Campus” enables easy download of designated ASTM standards for just $10 per student.
ASTM also offers a Campus-Wide Service option that enables multi-user, desktop access to ASTM’s entire library of more than 12,000 standards. Through the service, every department or branch campus of a school, regardless of location, can have access to ASTM standards.
"ASTM Standards on Campus is fabulous! We encourage students to use the appropriate standards in their design and testing projects,” commented Judy Schneider, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, Mississippi State University. “With Standards on Campus, students are able to download the ASTM standards they need for their senior design project. I intend to continue using it every semester for our senior design class."
An Enhanced Home on the Web
To further spread the message of standardization, ASTM International has revamped and expanded ASTM Campus—the popular area of its Web site geared toward university and college students, as well as professors and instructors. The newly designed ASTM Campus provides easy access and navigation to a wealth of educational content related to standards for students and professors. Also new to ASTM Campus in 2007 are learning tutorials on various aspects of standardization and ASTM International. These modules are readily available for online viewing or download by instructors for use in the classroom setting.
Bringing the Standards Message Directly to Students
Building on its highly successful outreach efforts in 2006, ASTM members and staff will share first-hand perspectives on standardization directly with students via university and college campus visits throughout the year. Campus visits will occur during 2007 at colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. Last year, ASTM International visited major colleges in the U.S. such as Arizona State University, Southern Methodist University, Georgia Tech, and Drexel University, as well as Hanyang University in South Korea and Tsinghua University and Beihang University in China.
Washington Internship Program
ASTM International will also be a participating organization in the 2007 WISE (Washington Internships for Students of Engineering) Program. The WISE program offers eligible engineering students the opportunity to work a paid summer internship in Washington, D.C. Students learn how government officials make decisions on complex technological issues and how engineers can contribute to legislative and regulatory public policy issues.
Student interns participating in the program will spend time at various government agencies, as well as the Washington, D.C., offices of various organizations. Later in the internship, students research and write a paper, working with one of the program’s eight sponsoring organizations to select a topic.
ASTM Student Membership: The Path to Future Leadership
Another important element of ASTM’s Year of the Student initiative in 2007 will be the continued promotion and growth of the ASTM student membership category. Launched in 2003,
student membership in ASTM International has grown to include thousands of college and university students from 71 countries around the world. ASTM student membership is provided at no cost to individuals enrolled in full-time graduate or undergraduate programs. Students receive a wide range of benefits, including free attendance at ASTM symposia and electronic editions of ASTM magazines and newsletters. Upon graduation, students can become regular members of ASTM International at a reduced fee for their first year of membership.
Teresa Cendrowska, ASTM’s director of external relations, commented, “The overriding goal of all of our Year of the Student initiatives is to increase student awareness and exposure to the field of standards right now. Student membership in ASTM International is the perfect front row seat to the standardization process and enables students to enhance their knowledge, develop new skills, and better prepare for their future career.”
For more information on ASTM’s Year of the Student initiative, visit www.YearoftheStudent.org, or contact Teresa Cendrowska, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pa. (phone: 610/832-9718; tcendrow@astm.org).
Release #7565