GE Volunteers are essential to everything we do in Next Engineers. Our volunteers turn dreams into reality. In sharing their personal career journeys with students, they help students imagine themselves as future engineers. In each of our three programs, volunteers guide students through design challenges, providing a real-world engineering perspective and giving students insight into what it's like to be an engineer.
We are proud to share that from our launch in October 2021 through our first anniversary in October 2022, GE Volunteers contributed over 5,500 hours to Next Engineers.
Across our four sites, volunteers spent nearly 800 hours in Engineering Academy, participating in career panels, mentoring activities, facility tours, and design challenges. In Engineering Camp, volunteers contributed over 1,000 hours, talking with students about their day-to-day work, inspiring students with personal stories, and working alongside students on their capstone design projects.
And finally, GE Volunteers spent over 1,500 hours with Engineering Discovery, engaging 13-14 year old students with awesome demonstrations and hands-on activities to ignite their interest in engineering careers. Over 80% of students participating in Discovery report wanting to do another Discovery activity, with many sharing they had fun, enjoyed working in a team, and enjoyed doing a hands-on activity.
Students aren't the only ones enjoying Next Engineers! 94% of GE Volunteers surveyed reported "Very Positive" experiences volunteering with Next Engineers, saying they would recommend the volunteering opportunity to their colleagues. One volunteers shared, "A few kids who may not have seemed too interested at first were fully immersed by the end. That was rewarding." Another wrote, "It emphasized the importance of the work we do as engineers, especially in relation to how we strive to make lives better."
Thank you to all of our GE Volunteers who have taken the time to inspire young people through Next Engineers! You are building the next generation of engineers!
Check out the full infographic here.
