Iowa State’s College of Engineering has created two new positions as part of Dean of Engineering James Melsa’s “Blueprint for the Future.”

Anne Ahrens is now serving as international programs director, and Monica Bruning is the new engineering coordinator of recruitment and outreach.

Previously the director of ISU’s special recruitment programs, Ahrens has been at the university since 1995.

She is an ISU alumna, having received both her bachelor’s degree and her Ph.D. in higher education at ISU.

Ahrens said her goals include helping both engineering students and faculty become aware of opportunities in study or work abroad programs, and making sure their experiences are positive.

She said she would also like to have more international students at ISU and provide services for those students.

By the year 2000, Ahrens said, she wants 25 percent of undergraduates and 60 percent of the faculty to have had international experiences. “I want to help students see the wonder and magic of study abroad,” she said.

“This experience is very important because of our global interconnection,” Ahrens said.

“I’m very excited to interact with students and faculty and to assist them with an exciting adventure that could reshape or redirect their lives forever,” Ahrens said.

Bruning comes to ISU from Montana Tech of the University of Montana in Butte.

Her experience includes 12 years with college admissions offices at both liberal arts and science universities and science and engineering schools.

Bruning is responsible for communicating with middle school and high school students and making them aware of engineering career opportunities.

She said she wants to expand the college’s current programs as well as create new programs.

According to Bruning, there is a shortage of engineers in the United States, and she said she will work with teachers, counselors, businesses and industries to develop an interest in students.

Bruning said her goals are to increase enrollment in the College of Engineering, especially the enrollment of women and ethnic minorities, and to increase awareness of engineering in middle schools.

A major goal, she said, is to bring student groups to campus and introduce them to both the College of Engineering and the careers that can be obtained from a degree in the field.

“There are so many engineering job openings and not enough engineering graduates to fill them,” Bruning said.

“And if high school students don’t know what engineering is, they’re not going to pursue it when they go to college,” she said.