ANSI works with its members, partners, and constituents across the standards community to develop education initiatives that highlight the economic, societal, and environmental benefits of standards to students, emerging professionals, and the general public. These responsive programs and activities are designed to engage students of all ages in the world of standards and conformity assessment and ensure the strength and efficacy of the next generation of U.S. standardization leaders.
ANSI, in conjunction with sponsor organizations from the standards community, hosts periodic standards simulation competitions for teams of university students. These events offer a hands-on introduction to the actual standards development process, condensed into an exciting day of active learning. With the help of on-hand mentorship from academics and experts, student teams strive to impress the volunteer judges from across the standardization community with the strategy, collaboration, and negotiation needed to achieve their objective as a standards stakeholder.
In addition to those team competitions, ANSI often partners with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to host additional standards simulation exercises where individual students, rather than school teams, participate in the “development” of a standard.
See ANSI news articles for previous standards simulation event winners:
ANSI’s annual paper competition invites post-secondary students to submit original papers on a specific topic related to standards and conformity assessment – for example, “How Do Standards Mitigate Disaster?" or “Imagine a World without Standards.” In asking students to consider and document the impact of standards in various real-world scenarios – or a perceived need for additional standardization – the competition supports ANSI’s long-term effort to spread awareness to students of the significance of standards and conformance in nearly every aspect of business, industry, and society.
ANSI has participated as an exhibitor at the bi-annual USA Science & Engineering Festival in Washington, DC – a national grassroots effort to advance STEM education and expand career paths. The Institute participates in an effort to inspire and help nurture future generations of engineers and standardization professionals. Over the course of the three-day festival, an estimated 250,000+ visitors pass through the expo space and gain inspiring insights into many diverse facets of science and engineering – including standards.
ANSI’s fun, interactive displays are always designed to engage and show students, teachers, and parents just how ubiquitous and important standards are to every facet of their lives via hands-on activities, games, and graphics. And ANSI leads the collaborative efforts of multiple partnering organizations in a “passport challenge,” where kids visit the participating standards organizations’ booths, learn about their work, collect stamps, and win a prize.
Created for our science festival exhibits, these multimedia learning resources were designed to introduce younger students to standards in their everyday lives – but they're fun and useful for everyone!
