|
Diversity in STEM
Indra Nooyi (CEO, PepsiCo) and Edie Fraser (CEO, STEMconnector): How to Help 30 Million Girls Build Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (PepsiCo)
Around the world and across every industry, [STEM] fields are profoundly transforming society. Computers, transistors, data, and algorithmsand the experts who build and utilize these powerful technologiesare propelling communities and markets forward. Simply put, STEM workers are our worlds change agents, which is why the gender imbalance in the STEM community must be urgently addressed. More than half of all college graduates are women, but according to the American Association of University Women, women earn only 20% of physics, engineering, and computer science bachelors degrees. Women make up nearly half the total U.S. workforce, but just a quarter of the STEM workforce.
Girls Who Code putting diversity into computer science (ArkLaTex)
A group of Natchitoches middle school girls are on the way to adding diversity to the computer science field. The group is part of Girls Who Code, a national non-profit working to close the gender gap in the technology and engineering sectors. About 15 middle schoolers meet every other Thursday after school at Northwestern State University Middle Lab for project-based activities that teach not only computer science concepts and logic, but also teamwork and leadership. There is no cost to students to participate.
Why More Black Engineers Arent Being Hired In Silicon Valley (International Business Times)
When Joshua Mann set foot in SpaceX on the first day of his internship three summers ago, the scene was not entirely unexpected. Ill be honest. When I got to SpaceX there werent a lot of black engineers there, he said. There was a feeling, did I really belong here? Mann, at the time a 21-year-old Morehouse College student with a 3.96 GPA, had only two years of physics and pre-engineering classes under his belt, while most of the other interns had at least two years of engineering classes, which meant more hands-on lab experience. The work itself was high-stakes: testing critical components of rocket engines that would one day take cargo and astronauts into space. 
Industry
USA BMX launches STEM program in Tulsa [VIDEO] (KTUL)
USA BMX announced Monday that it was launching its STEM program in Tulsa. The organization made a $10,000 donation to the Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance for the purchase of seven BMX STEM kits. Each kit will be distributed to an elementary school in the Tulsa area. Students will learn how to build a BMX bicycle from the ground up using such STEM principles as physics, center of gravity, speed, torque, friction and kinetic energy. "We're the first ones," said Xan Black, Director of the Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance.
Higher Education
ACC spends millions to grab key 124-acre site near Austin airport (Austin Business Journal)
Officials for Austin Community College confirmed that ACC has purchased a 124.1-acre site just east of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to build a career-technical center. The center will likely expand educational offerings in such programs as automotive technology, building construction technology, HVAC, welding and jewelry production. ACC paid $10.5 million for the raw land, which is located on FM 973 about a half mile south of State Highway 71.
CCNY team selected for national Pathways to Innovation Program (City College of New York)
A team of faculty and administrators from the City College of New York is one of 14 from U.S. higher education institutions chosen by the National Science Foundation-funded National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation to join the Pathways to Innovation Program. The Pathways program helps institutions to incorporate innovation and entrepreneurship into undergraduate engineering education. The program is run by Epicenter, which is funded by the NSF and directed by Stanford University and the VentureWell.
As demand for data skills grows, big gift bolsters UW computer sciences (Wisconsin Journal Sentinel)
Computer science classes, once the exclusive realm of computer geeks planning careers at software companies, are fast becoming part of the mainstream college experience. That fact isn't lost on Milwaukee philanthropists Sheldon and Marianne Lubar, whose $7 million gift to the University of Wisconsin-Madison's computer sciences department was announced last week to help the university retain and attract top professors. Last month, recruiters from Microsoft jockeyed at UW-Madison's annual Computer Sciences Job Fair with a variety of companies that mine big data such as Google, Humana, American Family Insurance, GE, Ashley Furniture, IMC Financial Markets and 3M.
SIUE Computer Science Program proactively sprinkles security into studies (River Bender)
In a world full of computerized information and rapid advances in technology, the need for cybersecurity is paramount for both personal privacy and national security. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is taking an innovative approach in training future computer scientists to combat this pressing concern. With support from the SIUE Center for [STEM] Research, Education and Outreach, Thoshitha Gamage, assistant professor of computer science, is introducing cybersecurity concepts throughout the programs core curriculum. In addition to his regular course load, Gamage is working as a faculty fellow through the STEM Center for the academic year.
Coding
Can an English Teacher Learn to Code? (The New Yorker)
In September, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a ten-year deadline to offer computer science to every New York City public-school student at every grade level. One of the major obstacles to achieving Computer Science for All, as the undertaking is called, is the fact that most teachers in the school system dont have computer-science backgrounds. Were not training every teacher, Michael Preston, who runs the citys Foundation for Computer Science Education, told me a few weeks later. The plan sets aside eighty million dollars; in addition to public money, the city is raising private funds for some five thousand teachers to go through computer-science programs.
Holberton Wants To Be A Different Kind Of Coding School (TechCrunch)
By now, there are plenty of coding schools that will happily train you to become a junior programmer within a couple of months. Most of them will teach you the basics, but to become a full-stack engineers, a 12-week boot camp usually just isnt enough. Neither are most online courses. The team behind the Holberton School of Engineering wants to take a different approach to teaching new software engineers. Holberton is a physical school currently based in San Francisco founded by a group of three engineers who previously worked at Apple, LinkedIn and Docker.
New York
State funding decision looms for Hudson Valley manufacturing center (Albany Business Review)
Dave Larkin will find out this month if Hudson Valley Community College will be awarded state money to help construct a $12 million advanced manufacturing center. The proposed two-story, 40,000-square-foot would position the two-year school to double enrollment of its program that trains machinists to work for local manufacturers such as General Electric in Schenectady, Simmons Machine Tool Corp. in Menands and Kintz Plastics in Howes Caves, Schoharie County. It is one way the region can help diversify an economy that has invested billions of dollars attracting thousands of nanotechnology research and computer chip manufacturing jobs over the past 15 years..
STEM Innovation
How Education Will Be Smarter, Less Intrusive, And Able To Respond To How You Feel (TechCrunch)
 Impatience characterizes the technology sectors approach to education. Disruption is taking place in all other sectors of society so, why not education? I know too well, whether at Pearson or in the classroom, the challenges and frustration of developing and using digital tools that improve outcomes for students. But Im optimistic. We are on the verge of a tide of smarter innovation that, if allowed to spread, will turbocharge the learning experience for students. Here are four areas worth watching: 1. Using technology to learn from learners. Every great digital product constantly evolves by learning from its users, adding capabilities, and improving its performance. If its true for your Facebook feed, then why not education? |
 |
Stay Connected       
 STEMconnector®
Thurgood Marshall College Fund and U.S. Army Partner to Increase STEM Literacy for Underrepresented and Disadvantaged Youth
 Today the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) announces the award of a $5.7 million multi-year grant from the U.S. Army to engage K-12 students from underrepresented and disadvantaged populations in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education. The award will support the launch of the Vivian Burey Marshall STEM Program (VBM Program), a four-year pilot designed to support middle school students with year-round, out-of-school-time activities. The VBM Program will feature increasingly sophisticated challenges that will encourage students to develop progressively advanced STEM literacy and competency. Named in honor of Justice Thurgood Marshall's first wife, Vivian Burey Marshall, the VBM Program will follow a cohort of students from sixth through tenth grade. The program will connect participants with U.S. Army researchers near program sites in Baltimore, MD and Vicksburg, MS, leveraging existing relationships between local Army facilities and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). HBCU students will also have the opportunity to mentor program participants.
100 CIO/CTO Leaders in STEM- Stephen Gold, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer for CVS Health
 "Our country has been transitioning to a digital society in recent years and its transforming how we live, how consumers behave and how businesses such as CVS Health compete. You can see it in things from electronic medical records and e-prescribing; to smart phone apps that provide medication reminders and other tools to manage patients prescriptions. The health care industry is expected to change more in the next 10 years than it has in the past 50 and CVS Health is playing an important role in driving this change."
100 CIO/CTO Leaders in STEM- Town Hall Google Hangouts
 Join us on December 8th, from 2 PM to 3 PM EST in a Google Hangout, as we gather Chief Technology Officers and Chief Information Officers from today's most reputable organizations to lead a discussion on STEM Careers with a focus on technology and IT. We expect over 500 people from across the country to watch live, and hundreds more to watch the replay. |
