|
Million Women Mentors Fireworks
Today at 2PM ET: Mentor Fireworks! A National Webinar from the NGCP and Million Women Mentors (National Girls Collaborative Project)
sm.jpg) The National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP) and Million Women Mentors (MWM) are working together to spotlight the importance of role models and mentors for empowering girls and young women to actively pursue STEM education and careers. Since launching in January 2014, over 60,000 pledges have been made to mentor girls and youth through the MWM site. With over 50 major partners reaching over 25 million girls and 22 national sponsors, the MWM initiative is actively working toward making a difference. NGCP facilitates collaboration between 12,800 organizations (who serve 8.35 million girls and 4.5 million boys) through their network of 31 Collaboratives, serving 39 states. Join this webinar to learn more about the initiative and the activities and events occurring across the country.
STATE OF IOWA - Committed to Million Women Mentors (blog.STEMconnector.org)
The state of Iowa is proud to join the national movement Million Women Mentors (MWM). Iowa is deeply committed to leveraging the strong work ethic in our state by bringing MWM to all 99 counties across the state. We are actively engaging women (and men) to serve as mentors in STEM and MWM. With that in mind, the MWM Iowa effort brings together leaders of education, government, and industry to engage girls and young women to understand, develop interest, and gain confidence so they can pursue and succeed in STEM courses, degrees, and careers. "MWM mentors can guide, encourage, and open doors for girls and young women to be fully equipped for the great jobs of tomorrow in STEM-related careers," said Iowa Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds. 
Industry
Satya Nadella at Microsoft hackathon: �Time to stop the criticism and do something about it� (Geek Wire)
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is shaking things up at the company, and an event on the Redmond campus this morning is the latest example: It�s a 38-hour hackathon, designed to tap the creative energy of employees, help bring the best ideas to market faster, and put fresh eyes on Microsoft�s legacy code bases. Nadella opened the event a few moments ago with a brief address to employees. He referenced the natural tendency to complain about products internally, and said the event presents an opportunity to take action. �This is the time to stop the criticism and do something about it,� he said, before turning the crank on a siren to kick off the event. More than 10,600 Microsoft employees around the world are participating in the hackathon, part of a larger internal Microsoft event called //oneweek that replaces the traditional day-long company meeting.
STEM Jobs
How Can Recruiters Grab Engineers' Attention? With More Money (Duh) (Fast Company)
Giving the competitive hiring landscape for engineers, coders get inundated with pitches everyday--pitches that come with lures of six-figure salaries, beer kegs, dogs, and other fun office perks. Believe it or not, it's actually a harder sell that you might think. How does one tech company with amazing benefits stand out from the next? Job marketplace Hired recently analyzed 8,000 recruiting messages to see what factors grab engineers' attention. No. 1 on the list: dolla dolla bills. Writing for Hired, Aline Lerner found that if an engineer has a $120,000 preferred salary, an offer that is $10,000 above that leads to a 20% higher chance of him or her - wait for it - even accepting an initial interview request.
7 Hot Majors That Didn't Exist When You Were in College (Mashable)
Thanks to the rise of the unconventional careers such as professional blogger and social media manager, as well as new forms of technology, universities are constantly adding majors to the roster of diploma-worthy degrees. And millennials are ready to enroll. According to the The Princeton Review, the most popular college majors in the U.S. skew toward traditional courses of study. Business, psychology and nursing lead the pack of sensible undergraduate areas of interest. A variety of fields, from homeland security to digital forensics, promise careers that students should be vying for, college expert Suzanne Luse tells Mashable. However, there are some key skills everyone should have. "No matter what you major in, you should have tech skills," Luse says.
Government
White House Pushes Financial Case for Carbon Rule (New York Times)
Failing to adequately reduce the carbon pollution that contributes to climate change could cost the United States economy $150 billion a year, according to an analysis by the White House Council of Economic Advisers released Tuesday. The report is part of the White House�s effort to increase public support for President Obama�s climate-change agenda, chiefly an Environmental Protection Agency proposal targeting coal-fired power plants, the nation�s largest source of planet-warming pollution. The E.P.A. will hold public hearings on the proposal, which are expected to be heated, this week in Atlanta, Denver, Pittsburgh and Washington.
Engineering Science junior chosen for DOD SMART Scholarship for Service Program (Penn State)
Sarah Masters, an engineering science junior, has been awarded a Department of Defense (DOD) Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship. Part of the National Defense Education Program, the SMART Scholarship for Service Program was established to support undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. Administered by the American Society for Engineering Education, the program aims to increase the number of civilian scientists and engineers working at DOD laboratories. Awardees receive a full scholarship and are promised a position at a DOD research facility after graduation.
Maker Movement
Microsoft Debuts a Windows Rival to Raspberry Pi (Mashable)
Two years after $35 microcomputer Raspberry Pi hit the market, Microsoft is getting in on the DIY-PC action with its own version. The Redmond, Washington tech juggernaut announced on its Windows blog in April that it was working on a dev board specifically for SoC (system on a chip) hardware. "Creating Windows drivers for SoC platforms poses certain challenges," the blog read. "Unlike PCs, which have PCI slots and/or USB ports, SoC systems such as tablets and clamshells use low-power internal buses that lack standard connectors, plug-and-play support or discovery mechanisms. In addition, they are typically protected by secure boot, and cannot be used for developing and testing third-party drivers."
STEM Competitions
Hacking contests ID cyber talent for government, industry (Politico)
The best warriors are battle-tested. So how do you identify and train the most skillful up and coming cyberwarriors when the combat they practice � hacking � is illegal? Enter cyber competitions: Contests for aspiring cybersecurity warriors to show their mettle in real hacking challenges, where they can both practice their skills in a legally safe environment and appeal to recruiters that sometimes will hire the top talent on the spot. While the competition is friendly, the backdrop is serious. Security training organization (ISC)2 estimated in its 2013 workforce study that the world will need 2 million more IT security professionals by 2017, and the Pentagon last year announcedan expansion that would more than quadruple the staff of Fort Meade, Md.-based U.S. Cyber Command.
West Virginia wins robotics competition at University of Hawaii at Hilo competition (Pacific Business News)
West Virginia University was the winner in the mining and operations categories during a robotics competition hosted by the University of Hawaii at Hilo on the slopes of the Mauna Kea volcano. The competition, held by the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration System, or PISCES, showcased robotics teams from universities across the country for the PISCES Robotic International Space Mining competition. Iowa State University of Science and Technology won first place in design/innovation, and Kapiolani Community College, the only Hawaii school that competed, took third in design/innovation.
Higher Education
CSU Receives Grant to Study Impact of STEM (SCV News)
The California State University has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation that will fund a study on the impact of service-learning courses in [STEM]. Service-learning combines classroom instruction with meaningful community service. The practice has a strong correlation to student success in most academic disciplines, but there is a lack of research on its impact in STEM. In partnership with the California Campus Compact, a statewide service-learning organization, the CSU�s Center for Community Engagement will investigate the practice�s impact on student success in STEM fields.
South Carolina
SC panel approves compromise on teaching evolution (The State)
A proposed change in South Carolina's biology standards for teaching evolution is designed to encourage discussion in the classroom. A six-member panel voted unanimously Tuesday to recommend the compromise to the full state Board of Education and Education Oversight Committee. Approval from both is needed for any change to education standards. The compromise essentially defines science and says evolution is a scientific theory. It could end months of disagreement between the boards, which meet again next month, in South Carolina's latest flap over religion and science.
STEM Food & Ag
This Sainsbury's Supermarket Is Powered Completely By Food Waste--Which It Has A Lot Of (Fast Co.Exist)
.jpg) Every day, the average supermarket throws out around $2,300 of food that sat on shelves a little too long. Some chains still send that food to landfills. But the U.K. supermarket chain Sainsbury's is trying something different: Everything that can't be donated to a food bank or otherwise used is turned into energy. Now, one of their local stores will be hooked up to that power so it can run entirely on food waste. The company stopped sending food waste to landfills several years ago. "It was the right thing to do, but also it was the right commercial thing to do," says Paul Crewe, head of sustainability at Sainsbury's. "Putting food waste into landfill costs �150 per ton, and the alternative of [turning it into energy] is significantly cheaper. It's putting that waste to true, positive use." |
 |
Stay Connected
      
 STEMconnector�
Damon A. Williams, Ph.D. (SVP & Chief Education & Youth Development Officer, Boys & Girls Clubs of America): Out-of-School STEM: Inspiring Underrepresented Youth to Change the World
 Several weeks ago, Eddie Cuba, 11, met President Obama at the White House Science Fair in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as one of the million kids who have been inspired by STEM through the Connect a Million Minds (CAMM) initiative. Thanks to this initiative, Eddie had the opportunity to join a new program at Boys & Girls Club of Paterson & Passaic called Do-It-Yourself (DIY) STEM because he really enjoys learning science in a different environment after school, making rockets and light bulbs with friends. Since Eddie started the DIY STEM program, his grades have improved, and he wants to go to college and keep studying science because he thinks STEM is fun.
Teachers Provide Feedback on how to STEMtheGAP in U.S. Education
 Professional development days, project-based learning exercises and career exploration with industry employees are just a few of the suggestions on how to STEMtheGAP from teachers across the U.S. After receiving 312 submissions to Dow�s STEMtheGAP Spring Teacher Challenge, the company awarded 25 educators with $1,000 grants for their outstanding ideas and feedback surrounding STEM education. The Teacher Challenge is designed to foster dialogue between educators and businesses around the growing concern of uninterested kids and unrealized opportunity around STEM. With the STEMtheGAP Teacher Challenge, Dow hopes to encourage increased collaboration and innovation in helping to drive new ideas surrounding STEM education in the United States. The spring challenge is the start of a three phase competition that will award a total of $100,000 to 100 winners over the coming months.
Team USA Attains Three Gold Medals and One Silver Medal at the International Biology Olympiad
 The Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) announces Team USA was awarded three Gold Medals and one Silver Medal at the 25th International Biology Olympiad (IBO) held in Bali, Indonesia. Team USA represented this nation in the world�s competition for top academic achievement in biology, surpassing student representatives from 63 nations of the world. Team USA members were selected based on their academic merit by CEE during the 12th annual USABO National Finals hosted by Purdue University. Long, Du, Mangalick, and Mudigonda, are this nation�s premier biology students and will be seniors this fall. �CEE is extremely proud of the success of Team USA 2014,� said Joann DiGennaro, President of CEE.
Help us make STEMdaily even better with this quick Survey!
 We'd like to take the opportunity to thank our loyal readers, our member organizations, and our partners who, by doing incredible STEM initiatives, provide us with great news stories to share 5 days a week. In order to help us improve the content and delivery of STEMdaily, please take a few minutes to complete our reader satisfaction survey. The survey includes some basic questions about the demographic profile of our subscribers, along with some questions to gain feedback on content. Please keep in mind that the survey is completely anonymous. Thanks again for reading STEMdaily and completing the survey. |
