It’s hard to believe that seven years of NSF-grant funding to found Engineering for US All comes to an end on September 30, 2025. So much has been accomplished that leaves a lot of important work still to be done.
I can’t say enough about the large team that came together to become a wonderful family of engineering education researchers and practitioners. From undergraduate student researchers to a university president, everyone contributed their very best and gave more time and expertise than was ever asked of them.
The end goal of this body of work became clear to us a few years ago. Instead of spinning off a for-profit company, like many NSF-funded projects do, our goal was to spin off a not-for-profit organization intent on bringing our work to scale. We’ve been supported by (NSF # and #) and continue to be supported by (#2525989) the National Science Foundation, including some key individuals: Don Millard, Amelia Greer, Patricia Simmons, and Mary Poats. Their wisdom and nurturing have been unfailing.
Our principal investigators, Darryll Pines and Samuel Graham, have kept a steady hand on our leadership, providing the right mix of encouragement, advocacy, and admonition. Our team leaders for Partnerships, Curriculum, Professional Learning, MyDesign, Credit and Placement, and Research have been unparalleled.
What have we done? We’ve created a four-course curriculum (so far!) that provides every student with access to engineering. Whether you’re a Career & Technical Education (CTE) focused student or a college-preparatory focused student, e4usa has a course that allows you to pursue engineering authentically, developing your engineering identity and skills. We’ve created teacher professional learning that enables any teacher to teach engineering successfully, within a community of practice. Our partnerships team brought together teachers from 25 US states and territories, as well as Ghana, to learn together and reflect on our teaching practices. The credit and placement team now offers credit for prior learning in a variety of models from 29 community colleges, colleges, and universities. The MyDesign® Learning Management System and its related scoring rubric comprise a research-based, sophisticated software tool that is constantly improving. When we started, the research behind what we created was crucial; now we’ve contributed 52 and counting empirical research studies to the literature around secondary engineering education.
No part is more important than another, and no part would exist without the other. It’s a daunting and exciting task to be at the helm of the Engineering for US All, Inc., non-profit aiming to bring all of these products and research to bear in high schools all around the US (and some in Ghana, too!). I promise to lead to the best of my ability. Thanks in advance to all of you whom we will call upon. Please be ready and willing to give your best to e4usa, whether it’s your time, talent, or treasure. We’ll be grateful and ready to work.
