New generation of STEM professionals

In his latest blog, Bill Troy, CEO of ASQ, asks to Influential Voices of Quality, how should we motivate young people to have a new generation of STEM professionals?

What does a STEM  professional mean? Those who will develop skills in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

In the month of february the USA celebrates the week of Engineering, which invites us to reflect on the importance of engineers to give every country competitive advantage through innovation in goods and services.

 

On February 22, 2012, Paul Borawski invited us to write about this topic, and my response was developed in this blog. I invite you to read my thoughts that are still inforce.

An engineer should be synonymous of "inventiveness" and should keep a balance between the use of the left side of the brain (logical) and the right side (creative). 

The misundertanding is to think that "engineers" should just have to strength the mathematical and numerical side.

Michael Gelb in his book "How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps toGenius Every Day" lets us clearly see that this great engineer (da Vinci) used both sides of his brain.

Now, the question will be: What do we have to do to motive and train young people in STEM? 

We will use the basic elements of Quality:

• Use the PDCA cycle, always thinking in whom should we direct our efforts (youths), planning process, do (execute), check what have worked for us (to repeat it) and what we need to improve, and act to produce substantial improvements.
• Remember that a good engineer is good in thinking and innovating, not necessarily repeating processes without producing improvement.
• Any process of learning science and mathematics should be planned to be fun, entertaining and with processes that go from simple to complex.
• We should develop learning keeping in mind the principles of quality:  focus on our customers, demonstrating leadership in the process, involving students from the early stages, understanding the learning process, developing a systemic approach, focusing in continuous improvement, and finally developing competent and motivated teachers to communicate and learn in the process.

We must change the mindset we have about engineers. The TV serie The Big Bang Theory has achieved that goal and made us to accept them, but it has also created a stereotype. I believe an engineer is not necessarily shy and with no social skills; there are many types of engineers.

Respecting their individuality, an engineer must develop leadership, communication and management skills and mainly they should speak management language.

As a final thought I believe we must be convinced that the new STEM professionals and everybody must see that the study of mathematics and science allows us to improve our lives. We have to have fun and enjoy during this process!

César Díaz

Quality Moments

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In his blog,  A view from the Q, Paul Borawski invites us to share "Quality Moments" that we have had during the month of November, the Quality month.

A Quality time is a time when we enjoy what we do, and in turn we provide Quality service to other human beings.

I want to share the experience in the city of Riobamba, at the National University of Chimborazo (UNACH), in the Faculty of Engineering, November Thursday 21, where I had the opportunity to give a short talk to students, teachers and Faculty authorities on the meaning of the Quality and its impact on education, as part of the path to the ISO 9001:2008 certification of the Faculty.

In addition to talking about the concepts of Quality, Efficiency, Effectiveness, was the fact the cooperation of all to enjoy and learn and there are some lessons learned:

• It is very important to share our commitment and feel part of the process.

• We must keep the memories in our mind, have joy in our hearts , enthusiasm and humility to learn, but mostly always look forward to the future acting in the present.
• The best way to teach is by example.
• If you are enjoying what you are doing, you are on the right path .
• Everything that is worthwhile requires a sacrifice.

Thanks to everybody who by their actions contribute to building a better society.

Excellent Quality Month.

Cesar Diaz Guevara

Quality In Fields “Beyond” Quality: Universal Accessibility

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In his blog A view from the Q , Paul Borawski invites us to think  about what new fields or disciplines could most reap the benefits of quality tools and techniques.

In relation to this question I think there are needs on the issue of universal accessibility.

Universal accessibility aims to remove the barriers that might limit people to conduct their daily activities. This approach takes into account the needs of people living with disabilities, as well as the needs for anyone to have to deal with situations involving a deterioration of its capacity.

The principle of universal accessibility is essentially based on the idea of ​​creating a barrier free environment.

Faced with universal accessibility, I believe that the tools and techniques of quality have much to contribute, as professionals design homes, environments, businesses, thinking only of those who have all the skills or not considered that with age these skills are declining, although the potential of a person to contribute ideas remain intact.

Traditionally, when interacting with the environment arose barriers that restricted the development or social participation, was attributed to the age, health condition, or more specifically to alterations of this, ethnicity , language , to size , ability , sex of people affected by them.

Today it is recognized that the presence or absence of difficulties, barriers, in an environment depends on its characteristics, its design, construction or provision.

The current challenge is how to provide quality tools to professionals who design, build, and manage content filled environments in the task of ensuring equal opportunities for all people to facilitate the full exercise of their personal rights.

According to the study of the future of the ASQ in 2011, one of the global trends is the aging of the population, which creates challenges and opportunities at the same time, organizations need the talent and experience of older people and they in turn need a friendly environment for their performance. Demographers predict that by 2025 the majority of the population will be over 65 years, this is a challenge for professionals in charge of building houses, furniture, buildings and ensure accessibility and welfare of the population.

Many efforts are being made in the field such as ISO 170001, which consists of two parts under the general title Universal Accessibility :

- Part 1: Criteria DALCO to facilitate accessibility to the environment.

- Part 2: System access management.

The first part one identifies the requirements for the actions of deambulation, apprehension, localization and communication that must be met to ensure universal accessibility. DALCO is an acronym for:

Deambulation, D : Action of moving from one place to another. For example walk trough streets, hallways, corridors, offices, going up or down steps, stairs , ramps.

Apprehension, A: Action to take or grab something. Implies action to achieve what will be grasped.

Location, L:  Act of checking the precise place someone or something is in.

Communication, CO: Action exchange of information necessary for the development of an activity.

The second part defines the requirements of a management system accessibility, which is based in ISO 9001:2008 methodologies to design a management system.

I am convinced that all quality professionals we must support with our knowledge and experience to all efforts made to ensure a better quality of life for the population.

Cesar Diaz Guevara