|
Viewpoints
Kirsten Weeks (Director of Global Community Relations, Cisco): Data-driven dynamics in STEM (The Hill)
Over the course of the next 17 months, every presidential candidate, left, right, and center, will make the case that our nation needs to make it a national imperative to address the skills gap crisis in STEM.. But while there is violent agreement on the challenge, we are all asking what can we do about it, and how will we know if our efforts are working? Take the company I work for, Cisco. We signed on to the US2020 challenge two years ago. US2020 is the White House-inspired initiative that called on companies to pledge that 20 percent of their U.S. workforce to spend 20 hours a year mentoring in STEM by the year 2020. We?ve also partnered with Million Women Mentors with a pledge that 5,000 of the students we mentor will be women and girls. 
Industry
Foundations, Chevron give $530K to build STEAM programs in the region (Pittsburgh Business Times)
More than two dozen school districts in southwestern Pennsylvania will share in more than a half million dollars in grants to promote programs that encourage STEAM ? Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Manufacturing. The grants were announced Friday by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit Center for Creativity, and the funding came from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, the Grable Foundation and, for the first time this year, Chevron Corp. AIU said the programs will include a tech robotics lab, a motivation station, an outdoor discovery zone and a virtual immersion lab in districts around the region.
STEM-focused Boy Scouts program goes national; UT-Battelle helped pilot program (Oak Ridge)
An after-school STEM education program, piloted in East Tennessee by the Great Smoky Mountain Council of the Boy Scouts of America, will now be offered in other parts of the country. STEM Scouts will be expanding to 12 other Boy Scouts of America councils starting this fall. ?We?ve been thrilled to be able to offer STEM Scouts in the Great Smoky Mountain Council this last year,? said Great Smoky Mountain Council Scout Executive David Williams. ?It?s been great for the youth, the parents, the volunteers, and our staff. We?ve had a lot of fun and introduced a lot of new families to the world of Scouting.? "
Emerson awards $40,000 to four schools (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Emerson surprised 10 teachers at four St. Louis metro area schools with a total of $40,000 through its Gold Star Grants program. The grants are awarded each year through a competitive application process open to past recipients of the Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award. This year?s winners include teachers from O?Fallon Township High School, McCluer High School, Bermuda Elementary, and South Technical High School. It will support projects that would otherwise not have been funded.
STEM Media
'The Big Bang Theory': How the cast and crew are helping STEM students (Christian Science Monitor)
Some undergraduates majoring in [STEM] at the University of California, Los Angeles will be getting some help from the cast and crew of the CBS sitcom ?The Big Bang Theory.? According to the Los Angeles Times, $4 million has been donated to the Big Bang Theory Scholarship Endowment. Through the endowment, 20 students will get grants of different amounts beginning this fall and five more UCLA attendees will come on board the program every year. According to Deadline, there is no end date for the program. Those who donated to the endowment include ?Theory? co-creator Chuck Lorre and ?Theory? stars Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, Kunal Nayyar, Mayim Bialik, Simon Helberg, and Melissa Rauch.
Higher Education
San Jacinto College broadens impact to produce more STEM grads (Houston Chronicle)
San Jacinto College has made STEM education a top priority in its goal to prepare community college students for the workforce and for university transfer. Over the span of two years, the College has formed a STEM Council for the support of all events and initiatives relating to science, technology, engineering and math, more commonly referred to as the STEM fields. The council meets monthly and is comprised of administrators, faculty and staff from across the college. Discussion topics include activities and events, undergraduate research, and scholarship and internship opportunities for STEM students.
Gallaudet University to be home to digital animation firm (Washington Business Journal)
Digital animation firm Pigmental Studios will establish its headquarters at Gallaudet University's campus near the NoMa-Gallaudet U Metro station in Northeast, roughly a year after choosing the District over Los Angeles and Santa Fe for its new home. Pigmental has signed a lease for about 4,000 square feet in an existing building that also houses the university's transportation department at Sixth Street and Florida Avenue. It will initially employ between 20 and 40 workers.. Bowser's administration forecast the deal earlier this month with a series of new initiatives branded as "InnoMAYtion" focussed on helping the tech sector connect underserved communities to the District's innovation economy.
RIC to Host First-Ever Computer Science Education Summit (Rhode Island College)
RIC's Mathematics and Computer Science Department is partnering with the Computer Science Teachers Association of Rhode Island for RIC?s first-ever Computer Science Education Summit on Thursday, June 4, from 4-8 p.m. in the Forman Center on RIC?s East Campus. Keynote speaker for the event is Kelly Powers, director of computer science teacher leadership at the Waltham-based Education Development Center. In her work, Powers has partnered with the Massachusetts Computing Attainment Network to bring high-quality professional development and rigorous curricula to computer science classrooms in her district. Powers is a vocal advocate for empowering underrepresented groups, including women and minorities, in the computer science field.
New York
?Geek in Chief? Senator Chuck Schumer Endorses STEM at Google?s Geek Fair (New York Observer)
Senator Charles Schumer, introduced as ?the state of New York?s geek in chief,? took the next step in his all-encompassing campaign onto the stage of Google?s second annual Geek Fair on Thursday. Google hosted over 500 children at the tech festival yesterday, a public event organized to inspire kids to pursue [STEM] and enlisted Sen. Schumer to endorse its message. ?Particularly [to] our young people, we would love you for the good of America, for the happiness of yourself, to really consider getting involved in [STEM],? said the senator, as two boys fanned themselves while parents videotaped him with iPhones.
Utah
Utah student engineers show off their work at STEM showcase (Salt Lake City Tribune)
During a wrestling match at West Jordan High School on Wednesday, two opponents circled each other tentatively, careful not to move outside the ring. When they connected moments later, one of the wrestlers was torn in half, then left broken and defeated on the floor. "I want a rematch," West Jordan Middle School ninth-grader Joshua Herman said. He scooped up his "wrestler," a Lego robot built for sumo-style competition, and moved outside the ring, working quickly to reattach the dislodged pieces. "I should be able to get back into the competition here and be able to win a couple more times," he said.
Michigan
Is STEM taking root? (Crain's Detroit Business)
Michigan has gotten the hint: Employers need STEM-trained workers. Efforts have been made to plug the gap by lots of stakeholders ? high schools, community colleges, employer groups, nonprofits, workforce agencies, foundations and businesses. Yet the need for specific kinds of workers still exists. "The issue has been out there long enough for people to have an understanding of it," said Gary Farina, executive director of the Michigan STEM Partnership in Lansing. "It's on their radar, and they're out there seeing what they can do."
STEM Innovation
Renowned inventor Dean Kamen: Innovation is about finding the right problem (GeekWire)
 Even for Dean Kamen, inventor of groundbreaking products like the Segway, the IBOT wheelchair, the first drug infusion pump, a water purifier, robotic arms, and more, it?s quite difficult to talk about and define innovation. Speaking at the ICRA/IEEE robotics conference in Seattle on Friday, Kamen shared his thoughts on what innovation really means in today?s world. ?Innovation isn?t about technology alone,? Kamen said. ?Innovation is the intersection of the appropriate technology for a real need that has never been made before. If the need is very real and the technology really works and it gets adopted in the world, it?s called innovation. |
 |
Stay Connected       
 STEMconnector?
Illinois Teachers Get Raspberry Pi Training to Offer Computer Science Skills to More Students
 A new program sponsored by the Illinois IT Learning Exchange and spearheaded by CompTIA and its philanthropic arm, the Creating IT Futures Foundation, aims to make classroom-based technology more accessible and fun for teachers and students alike. The Exchange is teaching Raspberry Pi technology to teachers across Illinois to help them offer basic computer science education and skills to their students. The Illinois IT Learning Exchange is an online public/private network to share resources and knowledge about information technology (IT) learning, jobs and careers with high school and community college students. In partnership with IL State Board of Education and IT industry groups, the Exchange seeks to promote academic and work-based technical learning to prepare more students for IT careers.
Million Women Mentors Bi-Weekly Update: May 28, 2015
sm.jpg) This week in the Million Women Mentors (MWM) Bi-Weekly Newsletter, check out updates from our partner BP, a guest blog from the viewpoint of an intern woman in STEM, lots of Women in STEM news, and information on our Gala- September 21st in DC at the National Press Club!
Does Your Organization Need STEM Mentors? Does Your Company Mentor?
 During these two calls, Million Women Mentors will offer a strategic overview of the movement, including our five suggested pathways to mentor, an update of the State of the States (30 teams mobilizing across the nation), and a deep-dive on the new MWM web-portal, powered by Tata Consultancy Services. Hope you can join us for whichever call is most aligned withy our needs. For Non-Profit Organizations and Higher Educational Instructions: Need STEM Mentors TownHall will take place on May 26th at 2PM ET. The TownHall for Corporations and STEM Professionals: Utilizing the Web-Portal for Corporate Mentoring Initiatives will take place on June 3rd at 3PM ET.
Nissan Partners with SAE International to Bring STEM Education to Tennessee
 On May 15, fourth- and fifth-graders from Homer Pittard School and Mitchell-Neilson Schools participated in a Jet Toy Challenge at the Campus School for Middle Tennessee State University, thanks to SAE International?s A World in Motion (AWIM) program sponsored by Nissan North America. Students worked in teams to design a car made from construction paper, balloons, plastic wheels and plastic tubing of different sizes with the objective of making the car go far and straight. They quickly learned that the precision of the chassis made from construction paper and the wheel axle placement were critical to making the car go as straight as possible. |
