WASHINGTON (15 March 2007) — The third-annual "Global Marathon For, By and About Women in Engineering" will provide insights and information on engineering careers to high school and college students, their teachers, counselors and parents, and professional women engineers worldwide; and is scheduled for Noon EST Thursday, 22 March, to Noon EST Friday, 23 March. The Global Marathon, which coincides with Women's History Month, was created by the National Engineers Week Foundation and is supported in 2007 by Lenovo and Verizon Business. Sessions will originate from various locations in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, China and Japan, and will also target audiences in Africa and Latin America.

The Marathon kicks off on 22 March at Noon EST with a live Webcast from the executive headquarters of PC-maker Lenovo near Raleigh, N.C., featuring Fran O'Sullivan, senior vice president of the product group at Lenovo; and former astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, and now president and CEO of Sally Ride Science. A live Webcast on practical preparations for tomorrow's challenging workplace will close out the Marathon at 11:00 a.m. EST on 23 March, with Judy Spitz, chief information officer at Verizon Business and Fred Briggs, executive vice president of network operations and technology for Verizon.

The 24-hour marathon of Webcasts, Internet chats and teleconferences — to be found at the Engineers Week Web site, www.eweek.org — connects an international community of women engineers and other professions with expertise in a wide variety of disciplines. Each presenter will lead a 30- to 60-minute presentation with postings and questions from participants worldwide. All sessions and presentations will be archived for future access.

IEEE-USA is collaborating with IEEE Women in Engineering, the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), and the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals (NOGLSTP) to support presentations by Audrey Elleberbee, Duke Ph.D. Candidate in Biomedical Engineering and recipient of the NSBE Graduate Student of the Year Award, who will discuss her path and future, on 22 March, from 2:30-3:00 p.m. EST; Dr. Amy Ross, vice president of research and development at Diamics, Inc., who will consider "Mentoring for GLBT Scientists, Engineers and Technology Students and Professionals: Bridging the Gap from Academe to Industry," also on 22 March, from 11-11:30 p.m EST; and Maryam Ali Al Thani, in Dubai, United Arab Republic, representing IEEE Women in Engineering, on 23 March from 1-1:30 a.m. EST.

Complete programming information for the Marathon can be found at www.eweek.org/site/News/Eweek/2007_marathon.

A PDF postcard for the Marathon can be downloaded at www.ieeeusa.org/communications/eweek/files/Global_Marathon_Postcard.pdf.

Other selected topics include: a report on findings from "The Super Girl Dilemma: Girls Grapple with the Mounting Pressure of Expectations," with Dr. Heather Johnston Nicholson, director of research for Girls Inc.; "Starting a Career in the U.S.," targeted to Latin American students, with Tatiana Hernandez, P.E., water resources engineer for Tetra Tech; and a discussion on "How You Can Change the World Through Technology," by Kishiko Itoh, who develops and manages the infrastructure network for Lenovo Japan.

The Global Marathon was created to highlight to employers that women are still underrepresented in engineering; make many publics aware of existing programs and opportunities for girls and women; and help dispel myths about women and girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Currently, only about 10 percent of America's engineers are women, although women make up 46 percent of the nation's workforce. In addition, women comprise 55 percent of all college undergraduates, but only 20 percent in engineering.

IEEE-USA advances the public good and promotes the careers and public-policy interests of more than 220,000 engineers, scientists and allied professionals who are U.S. members of the IEEE. IEEE-USA is part of the IEEE, the world's largest technical professional society with 360,000 members in 150 countries. See www.ieeeusa.org.

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