Are you concerned about the math and science abilities of U.S. students and how that bodes for the engineering profession? If so, take heart in recent action in Massachusetts. Just days before Christmas, the state board of education mandated that engineering instruction be part of the science curriculum at every grade level. Reportedly, the Bay State is the first state to do so.

While all the details were not final as of this writing, the goal is to put math and science into a real-world context for students by teaching them to use those subjects to build an increasingly complex array of devices and structures as they move through school.

Not a bad idea, especially since at least one international study recently ranked U.S. students as 18 ^th in math and 19 ^th in science among their contemporaries in 38 countries.

Kudos to the Massachusetts Board of Education.

A world of technology

Increasingly today technology knows no boundaries. Whether they are located in Peoria, Frankfurt, London, Toulouse, or Tokyo, engineers want to know about the newest and best innovations in components, tools, and materials that they can use in their designs. And they want to know how other engineers, no matter where they are based, are solving the same problems they face in their own jobs. That's why we launched Global Design News four years ago: to report on new developments in the full range of manufacturing industries in Europe and Asia. But U.S. engineers should know about those innovations too, and we have been reporting on them in the five international issues we produce each year, such as the one you are holding.

Beginning with this issue, we are including a special icon on international technology stories that have come from the editors of Global Design News. Look for that icon to find technology available worldwide.