Winter 2018 Newsletter of the Christian Engineering Society
Survey for the 2019 Christian Engineering Conference
By Justin Vander Werff (Justin.VanderWerff@dordt.edu)
We hope you are already anticipating the 2019 Christian Engineering Conference! The CEC steering committee has been investigating possible locations for our conference in the vicinity of Tampa, Florida, on June 19-21, 2019, immediately following the ASEE annual conference, as has been our regular practice. However, finding a suitable venue in that area has proven difficult thus far, so we are exploring other possibilities. If you have been involved with CEC in the past or are planning to be involved in upcoming years, please take a couple of minutes to fill out this brief survey (it will take less than 3 minutes!).
CES Dinner at the 2018 ASEE Annual Conference
By Ted Song (tsong@jbu.edu)
Save the date! This year's ASEE Conference will be held in Salt Lake City (June 24-27, 2018), and CES plans to get together and have dinner! I wanted to let you know that we plan to have dinner on June 25th (Mon.), and I will keep you posted with more details later. Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you soon!
Call for Papers: Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith (PSCF)
By Derek Schuurman (dschuurman@calvin.edu)
This is an invitation to consider submitting a paper for a special issue of Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith (PSCF) dealing with the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI). PSCF is the journal of the American Scientific Affiliation (www.asa3.org). AI is an area of growing concern and a topic of many recent books and articles. Ambitious applications of AI are poised to make profound changes, for better or worse. As Christian computing professionals, we need to answer the question: knowing what we know, what ought we to do? As we wrestle with these new developments, we must remember what Scripture teaches about what it means to be human, the meaning of work, and the kind of world God would have us unfold. An invitational essay is available for download here: http://www.csca.ca/uploads/18Jan20SchuurmanDiscerningAI.pdf
Please consider taking up one of the insights or questions in this paper, or perhaps another AI related issue that was not mentioned, and draft an article (typically about 5,000-8,000 words) that contributes to the ongoing conversation in this important area. Please send your paper submissions to me at the following address: dschuurman@calvin.edu. Please use the subject line "PSCF AI Paper Submission". We will send the best essays on for peer review and then we will select from those for publication in an Artificial Intelligence theme issue of Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith. For best consideration for inclusion in this theme issue, manuscripts should be received electronically before August 31, 2018. For examples of style and format, you can view previously published articles here: http://network.asa3.org/?page=PSCF
Reinventing Power Programs through Sustainability-Focused Curriculum
By Ted Song (tsong@jbu.edu)
The following email is from Dr. Ned Mohan (University of Minnesota), and I wanted to include his email in this newsletter for those who might be interested in attending this NSF-sponsored workshop. I attended this last year, and it is a great workshop for anyone who is in the power and energy field. Please find the attached agenda if you are interested.
"I am sending this email as a reminder, inviting you to attend our NSF-sponsored workshop during April 5-6, 2018 in Washington, DC. I certainly hope that you will decide to attend. The deadline to register and make your own hotel reservation is March 5th; all the links to do so are specified in the attached agenda. Dr. Gavin Schmidt from NASA-GISS is not able to come to our workshop but his presentation during our previous workshop is at https://youtu.be/LAe0-KNwons. Dr. Schmidt clearly, in no uncertain terms, makes the case that the climate is changing, it's changing because of us, and the consequences are unimaginable. We happen to be in a research and education field where we can do something about it.
Ned Mohan (mohan@umn.edu)"
Moderating the CES List of Books and Articles
by David Che (ched2@asme.org)
Are you a Christian who happens to be an Engineer? Are you an Engineer who is also a Christian? Have you ever thought about integrating the two roles into one? These are tough questions to ask and answer. Fortunately, many Christian engineers and scholars had mulled over the same questions over the years and they are willing to share their thoughts with you! One of the main reasons for CES' existence is to help you think through these issues. In addition to offering bi-annual conferences and making conference papers available online, CES also maintains on its website a rich compilation of books and articles that reflect the integration of engineering and faith. We welcome CES members to contribute articles or suggest new books to be added to this growing body of literature. For more information, please contact our new CES resource curator Dr. David Che.
CES Update on Membership
The officers of the formally organized Christian Engineering Society have determined our membership guidelines, which are posted on the CES website. The guidelines provide for individuals to become members of the society and for institutional membership. We will continue to publish the website and newsletter for anyone interested, even if not an official member. However, we hope you will prayerfully consider joining the society in a formal way to show your commitment and interest to this important subject. In order to encourage this, we have set the membership dues at a very low amount compared to most other professional societies. We now have two options for you to make the membership purchase. You can send a check to our treasurer, or you can subscribe via PayPal.
US citizens can also make a tax-deductible donation to the society, either by sending a check or by using the Pay Pal link on the main page. Questions or comments? Feel free to contact any of the four officers.
Seeking Engineering and Christianity Activities
If there is a project or activity at your institution/organization that relates engineering with faith, missions and/or service, we’d like to include it in a future CES newsletter. Please contact Ted Song (tsong@jbu.edu) or Steve VanderLeest (Steven.H.VanderLeest at gmail dot com) with a description of the project/activity. Thanks!
Newsletter Sign Up and Article Contributions
This newsletter is a publication of the Christian Engineering Society, distributed no more than once per month. You can sign up to receive an email notification when a new newsletter is available. Ted Song of John Brown University is the moderator and editor of the newsletter. Sometimes email filters will block mass distributions like the newsletter announcement, so be sure you whitelist the address "ces-announce@calvin.edu" to allow the newsletter announcement to get through.
If you have questions about the newsletter, send an email to Ted at tsong@jbu.edu. Society members are encouraged to submit announcements and contribute articles! (Editor reserves the right to make the final decision on inclusion of all content.)
Resources & Career Opportunities
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