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U.S. News STEM Solutions
STEM Leadership Hall of Fame Inductees Press for Action (U.S. News & World Report)
 It's time to stop talking and start doing. A group of higher education and industry leaders ? inducted into this year's U.S. News STEM Leadership Hall of Fame ? said they're impatient about the current state of STEM education and workforce development in the country, but encouraged about the way things are heading. Charles Peters, senior executive vice president of Emerson, introduced the Hall of Fame inductees, noting the strides they've made in helping more young people enter the STEM pipeline. Still, he said, there is a long way to go to meet workforce needs. "I spend most of my time worrying about the contradiction of living in a civilization.. with more knowledge in the world than ever, but yet one that fails to solve our most vexing problems," Peters said.
Building a STEM Ecosystem (U.S. News & World Report)
By bringing together educators, administrators, businesses and community organizations, leaders can create a "STEM Ecosystem" that helps students learn after school and in their local communities, experts said during the U.S. News STEM Solutions conference in San Diego on Tuesday. The panelists included leaders from foundations, educational institutions and community programs. Katherine Bihr, vice president of programs and education for the Tiger Woods Foundation; Jeff Hittenberger, chief academic officer of the Orange County Department of Education; and Lucy Santana-Ornelas, chief executive officer of Girls Inc. of Orange County, participated in the panel discussion titled "OC STEM: An Exosystem Approach Optimizing STEM Learning for All."
STEM Role Models: Lighting the Way to Career Success (U.S. News & World Report)
When it comes to succeeding in STEM, for many it's about marrying real-life opportunities to the passions of childhood. In a keynote panel Tuesday at the U.S. News STEM Solutions conference in San Diego, workers representing various STEM jobs shared the experiences that led them to their careers, and how they discovered what their passions were. The keynote, "STEM Role Models: Lighting the Way to Career Success," was moderated by Blair Blackwell, manager of education and corporate programs at Chevron. Durrell Hightower was one of the panelists, who now works as a technician at LA Freightliner.
Problems With Retention Block STEM Workforce From Being More Diverse (U.S. News & World Report)
For women in engineering, a long career is not guaranteed. "Women engineers are twice as likely to leave a company," says Diana Bilimoria, a professor and chairwoman of organizational behavior at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Those who leave often exit in their 30s, feeling as though they're in an environment where they can't succeed, she says. Bilimoria discussed the importance of having a diverse workforce for science, technology, engineering and math industries during a panel discussion on June 30 at [#STEMsolve].
Technical Education, STEM and Embracing On-the-Job Learning (U.S. News & World Report)
?One of the main things I see lacking is real career exploration early on for students ? maybe as early as middle school so they can get a taste of what?s out there, what jobs pay, what skill sets are needed and also maybe exploration of where their gifts and talents lie,? said Colleen Molko, interim associate dean for career and technical education at Norco College, a community college outside Los Angeles. ?That would go a long way in helping students identify some areas of interest.? And doing so wouldn?t be just a favor to students, she and others said. Companies stand to benefit from learning more about the skill sets of their future job applicants.
Merging High School, College and Work to Fill the STEM Pipeline (U.S. News & World Report)
Despite incremental progress over the last few years, schools and colleges aren't producing enough career-ready graduates to meet STEM workforce needs, according to a panel of educators and industry leaders. To meet the growing demand among employers for job candidates with STEM skills, some high schools are partnering with higher education institutions and business leaders to transform into academies with a focus on more quickly and efficiently preparing students for the workforce. 
Diversity in STEM
American Indian students learn about STEM at the Science Museum of Minnesota (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
Eleven-year-old Patricia Stone aspires to be an astronaut one day. On Tuesday, she took a step toward that dream when she launched a balloon rocket at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul. Stone was among 60 other American Indian students gathered to listen to Indian leaders and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) officials encourage them to pursue careers in [STEM]. The event was part of a national effort supported by the energy department and President Obama?s My Brother?s Keeper, an initiative to encourage young people to succeed.
STEM mentoring program receives $10K grant (Appleton Post-Crecent)
The Women's Fund for the Fox Valley Region awarded the University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley Foundation a $10,000 grant to put toward a mentoring program for women in [STEM]. The program ? Empower and Lead, Women in STEM ? aims to encourage women to enter the male-dominated STEM fields. Students in the program will learn how to develop strong relationships with female business leaders in STEM fields, as well as faculty members and peers. They will be able to conduct hands-on scientific research as freshmen. Furthermore, those who are admitted to the program will receive scholarships that will allow them to stay focused on academics.
Industry
Chevron to continue sponsoring STEM program at Carnegie Science Center (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
The Carnegie Science Center today announced that it renewed a major sponsor of its Center for STEM Education and Career Development for three more years. Chevron Corp., a major energy company involved in Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling, will contribute $900,000 to the center over a three-year period through 2017. The Science Center launched the Chevron STEM Education and Career Development Center in 2011 to focus its educational efforts on workforce needs and encourage more young people to consider pursuing STEM careers. Funding from Chevron will go to building a Fab Lab, a suite of digital fabrication and rapid prototyping machines.
Best Buy Teen Tech Centers: Request For Proposals in Oakland/San Francisco, Dallas, Los Angeles and Atlanta (2015) (Best Buy)
The need for youth to be tech-savvy and develop the 21st-century skills to set them up for future career success is more important than ever. Yet too many teens have little or no access to technology and as a result, they fall behind their peers. At Best Buy, we?re on a mission to provide teens with opportunities where they can develop technology skills that will inspire future education and career choices. We strive to leverage our local community presence, our technology resources and our talented employees to provide new and creative programs to serve our communities. In 2012, we launched a program aimed at building state?of?the?art ?Best Buy Teen Tech Centers? in communities throughout the U.S.
Higher Education
MSU ready to design new Engineering College building (Bozeman Daily Chronicle)
Plans for the new $50 million College of Engineering building at Montana State University are starting to take shape. The Norm Asbjornson Innovation Center, made possible by alumnus Asbjornson?s record-breaking $50 million gift, will create a new home for MSU?s fast-growing Engineering College and the Honors College?s academic programs. Walt Banziger, director of campus planning, design and construction, said this week that the project is moving from the idea stage to the design stage. After months of meetings and workshops, planners have a good idea of how many classrooms (10 to 15), offices, engineering labs (12 to 16) and programs need to fit in the building.
STEM Food & Ag
This Desktop Farm Is Like A 3-D Printer For Fresh, Natural Food (Fast Co.Exist)
 You could mistake Caleb Harper's Personal Food Computer for a 3-D printer. The desktop-sized plastic box is a cut down version of his CityFarm, and designed to grow fresh vegetables anywhere, without soil. The Personal Food Computer is a tiny aeroponics system, a miniature farm that creates its own weather, and supplies nutrients to the plants' roots by misting them with water. Coupled with monitors that track things like CO2, light levels and humidity, the box can be dropped anywhere, and grow fresh food, regardless of surrounding conditions. The water-sipping properties of aeroponics seem especially relevant in these times of drought, but this decentralization also means less long-distance transport, and ? in a possible future ? less environmental pressure from large farms. |
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Museum of Science, Boston Awarded 100Kin10 Fellowship
 Four employees from the Museum of Science?s National Center for Technological Literacy? have been selected to participate as a team in the 100Kin10 Fellowship Program. The new grant-making effort is designed to address a critical need in the nation's schools--the lack of engineering-related programs for K?12 students. The program aims to help teams from organizations with ideas for new engineering programs to fine-tune their ideas during a 10-week period where they receive support, resources, and feedback from each other and outside experts. Fellows then apply to 100Kin10 for a one-time grant that will help make their ideas a reality.
Upcoming #STEMHealth Forum: Moving at the Speed of Healthcare: Intersection of Healthcare and the Healthcare Workforce
 On July 23, 2015, the University of Phoenix - College of Health Professions, Sodexo and STEMconnector will host its inaugural Moving at the Speed of Healthcare: Intersection of Healthcare and the Healthcare Workforce Forum at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Join industry executives, higher education leaders and workforce development leaders for a national forum on the future of healthcare delivery and the emerging healthcare workforce. This interactive event will feature panel discussions with leading healthcare experts and cross-industry discussions with healthcare associations. Also participating are executive leaders from industry and technology, legal and research communities to offer practical insight for building a pipeline of qualified healthcare talent to enhance emerging trends and build a strong healthcare workforce.
The EdTech Weekly Report: June 30, 2015
 In this week's all-new EdTech Weekly Report, we follow updates from the ISTE 2015 conference, coding platform One Month raises $1.9M, Google Classroom releases new API and share button for classrooms, NMC Horizon Report for 2015 released, zSpace unveils world?s first all-in-one desktop virtual reality solution for education, and much more!
Enlightened, On-Ramps to Careers and Mayor Invest in DC?s Future Through STEM Internships
 Mayor Muriel Bowser and the DC Department of Employment Services kicked off the first day of the city?s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) today with Enlightened, Inc. ("Enlightened"), a leading provider of Information Technology (IT) consulting services and On-Ramps to Careers, Inc. (ORTC), a non-profit partnership that has enlisted twenty tech organizations to provide over 120 I.T. summer internships for DC students since 2013. Enlightened will host seven technology interns this summer in support of both the Mayor?s Men and Boys of Color (MBOC) Initiative and On-Ramps to Careers, Inc. These internships are among over 150 that will be created by the MBOC and On-Ramps to Careers in 2015. |
