IEEE'S RWEP program to recruit and retain first year students in electrical engineering, computer engineering and computer science

U.S. enrollment in undergraduate programs in electrical engineering (EE), computer engineering (CE) and computer science (CS) has declined significantly in recent years. Women remain under-represented in undergraduate EE, CE and CS programs-recently, they comprise an even smaller proportion of the overall shrinking enrollment. EE, CE and CS are the three primary fields of interest to the IEEE. IEEE is an international organization with nearly 370,000 members world-wide. In 2007, IEEE launched the Real World Engineering Projects (RWEP) program aimed at recruiting and retaining undergraduate students in EE, CE and CS programs. The RWEP program is a competitive, peer-reviewed award process that solicits hands-on, teambased, first-year projects that focus on real-world problems whose solutions benefit society. IEEE disseminates these projects to faculty worldwide for their use in the classroom. These projects make EE/CE/CS significantly more exciting and relevant to first year students and illustrate how the work of professionals impacts society. IEEE expects that the RWEP program will help realize increased student enrollment and retention in EE/CE/CS undergraduate programs - with an even greater impact on students from under-represented groups. Preliminary results support this hypothesis.