Trane®, a foremost global provider of indoor comfort solutions and services, collaborated with ASHRAE® (the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) and the Coulee Subsection of IEEE (the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) to encourage La Crosse, Wis., students to consider careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Nearly 250 eighth-grade students from 11 local middle schools visited Trane’s La Crosse facility this week, taking part in a competitive activity in which they designed a LEGO® vehicle and provided detailed instructions to human “robots” to recreate it. Volunteers from Dairyland Power Cooperative, Michaels Energy, and HSR Associates acted as the human robots and provided supplies and planning support for the event.
Students also toured the Trane laboratory and acoustics facility, learning about various career opportunities within the STEM fields, and experienced first hand the engineering and programming opportunities in the heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) industry.
Encouraging Students
“This was a perfect opportunity to share the exciting world of engineering and other STEM fields with young students when they’re old enough to be considering careers, but still young enough to be making choices for their high school coursework,” said Kristin Sullivan, Compressor Design Team Leader for Trane.
“These students may become the scientists and engineers who solve the climate and sustainability challenges of our future, and it was a great experience to see how enthusiastic these students were to learn more and get involved.”
Student Feedback
“I liked learning how taking just one piece out of a sound can make a big difference to how people perceive the sound,” said Brynn Burr, Mount Calvary-Grace Lutheran School student.
Engineering and manufacturing jobs
Teenage boys interested in STEM careers dropped from 36 to 24 percent and teenage girls remained at only 11 percent Nearly 27 percent of workers in the manufacturing sector will retire over the next decade, leaving up to 3.5 million engineering and manufacturing jobs that will need to be filled in the U.S.
In 2018, the number of teenage boys interested in STEM careers dropped from 36 percent to 24 percent while the number of teenage girls with the same interest remained at only 11 percent.
Attracting the next-generation
Through participation in events like National Engineers Week, Trane is tackling the urgent need to attract the next generation of skilled workers to technology-focused education and careers, including building interest in and exposure to the wonders of STEM at an early age.
Additionally, the company is focusing on increasing opportunity for all while meeting the challenge of climate change through bold 2030 Sustainability Commitments.
