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Bechtel Joins U.S. Effort to Improve Engineering Education

Bechtel is one of 100 firms partnering with a new national nonprofit, Change the Equation, to improve the performance of U.S. students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. The new organization was unveiled earlier today by President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony.

Change the Equation supports the federal government’s Educate to Innovate program, which is working to increase private and philanthropic involvement in STEM education and to create a larger, more diverse pool of workers in related professions.

Bechtel has long been immersed in these issues. The company’s retired chairman, Steve Bechtel, Jr., co-founded the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering in 1973. The company and its employees support many of the profession’s outreach activities, such as Engineers Week, ACE Mentor Program, Junior Engineering Technical Society, and National Science Bowl. The corporate foundation invests nearly $900,000 annually in nonprofits focused on K-12 and university education in the STEM fields.

Read more about Bechtel’s involvement with Change the Equation and STEM education.