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Friday, September 19, 2014
Government
Senators Coons, Ayotte Introduce Bipartisan Bill To Boost Manufacturing Training (Manufacturing.net)
U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) introduced bipartisan legislation Thursday to help cities and states build 21st century manufacturing training programs. The Manufacturing Skills Act would create an annual $100 million competitive grant to support initiatives that strengthen the manufacturing workforce and address regional skills challenges. �Manufacturing plays a critical role in building communities and strengthening the middle class,� Senator Coons said. �Our country regained more than half a million manufacturing jobs in the last three years, but our training programs still haven�t evolved to meet growing demand for high-skilled workers."
Higher Education
UGA enginering enrollment doubles in two years (Athens Banner-Herald)
Enrollment in the University of Georgia�s College of Engineering doubled in two years. It�s a growth rate faster than many expected. The college now has UGA�s fifth-largest undergraduate enrollment after passing the College of Family and Consumer Sciences and the School of Public Affairs this year. �There�s a lot of demand for University of Georgia engineering,� said Donald Leo, the school�s dean. As of Sept. 9, the college had enrolled 1,233 majors this fall, up exactly 300 more than a year ago. Adding in the 81 engineering graduate students and the 1,314 total enrollment is nearly twice what it was in fall 2012 ‑ 63 graduate students and 631 undergraduates in the college�s first year.

BC receives $500,000 for construction of a new STEM education center (Kern Golden Empire)
Bakersfield College announced today they will receive a $500,000 donation from Aera to establish the Aera STEM Success Center on campus. The investment by the Aera Energy Fund of the Kern Community Foundation is an effort to [STEM] programs at BC. According to a release from BC's Amber Chiang, the college's STEM programs have been housed in facilities constructed in 1955 but that the new center will be completely modern. The updated facility will provide students with new computers, printing and plotting services, and group study rooms.

UNC video game developers visited White House (Daily Tar Heel)
Three Tar Heels were welcomed to the White House over the weekend to create an educational video game and rub shoulders with bigwigs in the business. Game developers were invited to �Game Jam,� the first conference of its kind hosted at the White House. The computer science majors, junior Adam Aji and sophomores Jacob Settlemyre and Stephanie Yu, were chosen by computer science professor Diane Pozefsky to attend the conference, after they took her Serious Games course in the fall of 2013. Pozefsky said the UNC team was one of two undergraduate teams, along with the University of Maryland Baltimore County, to participate with professional developers, including the Finnish makers of Angry Birds.
Reports
The Best Language for Math (Wall Street Journal)
What's the best language for learning math? Hint: You're not reading it. Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Turkish use simpler number words and express math concepts more clearly than English, making it easier for small children to learn counting and arithmetic, research shows. The language gap is drawing growing attention amid a push by psychologists and educators to build numeracy in small children�the mathematical equivalent of literacy. Confusing English word names have been linked in several recent studies to weaker counting and arithmetic skills in children. However, researchers are finding some easy ways for parents to level the playing field through games and early practice.
Diversity in STEM
Jennifer Selvidge (Materials Science & Engineering Senior, MIT): Pushing Women and People of Color Out of Science Before We Go In (HuffPost ImpactX)
I am a senior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a materials engineer, an honors student, and a woman. I also have been told hundreds of times that I don't deserve to be where I am. MIT admissions decisions come out on 3/14 (for Pi) every year. By 8 a.m. on 3/15 everyone in my high school knew I had been accepted. Tons of people came up to congratulate that day and afterwards but seemed strangely insistent on reminding me that "it is a lot easier to get in when you are a girl because they get so many fewer female applicants."

Nadia Rawlinson (VP of Human Resources, Groupon): Groupon Releases Diversity Data (Groupon)
The recent conversation around diversity and technology has brought out a number of interesting perspectives and even more interesting data about the opportunities for greater participation and engagement from women and minorities. As a company that supports a transparent and open approach to this important conversation, today we are releasing our diversity numbers. Like many of our tech industry peers, we recognize that there is more we can do. As a company that is just six years old, our inclusion and diversity programs are evolving alongside our business.
STEM Jobs
Too Few University Jobs For America's Young Scientists (NPR)
Imagine a job where about half of all the work is being done by people who are in training. That's, in fact, what happens in the world of biological and medical research. In the United States, more than 40,000 temporary employees known as postdoctoral research fellows are doing science at a bargain price. And most postdocs are being trained for jobs that don't actually exist. Academic institutions graduate an overabundance of biomedical Ph.D.s � and this imbalance is only getting worse, as research funding from the National Institutes of Health continues to wither.

The Most In-Demand (And Aging) Engineering Jobs (Forbes)
Not pre-med. Not business. Not computer science. The most popular college major choice for high school seniors surveyed by CareerBuilder�the majority of whom already have a career in mind�is engineering. We can debate how many of these students will stick with engineering when they get their first homework assignments in college. But let�s assume most of them don�t move to less rigorous majors. Which engineering field should they choose? What are the most in-demand engineering jobs in the U.S. based on job growth, hires, and job posting activity? And which ones have the oldest workforces that will need to be replaced sometime in the next five to 10 years?
California
Sf.citi Tries To Recruit Tech Companies To �Adopt� SF�s Public Schools (TechCrunch)
..Sf.citi, a local politics-focused non-profit backed by heavyweight investor Ron Conway, is adding to that pool. They�ve been doing a pilot where tech companies can �adopt� schools and answer to whatever their needs are. During a pilot, five tech companies each adopted a school in the San Francisco Unified School District and made at least a one-year commitment to them. Xoom, for example, partnered with Junipero Serra Elementary and donated about 500 balanced literacy books because school administrators said their students needed to perform better in English Language Arts. Other ideas include hosting career tours and setting up classrooms.

STEM education convention in San Diego (U-T San Diego)
San Diego will become ground zero for all things related to STEM education in the coming days. Educators, scientists and business leaders will descend on the San Diego Convention Center Monday and Tuesday for the second annual [STEM] Symposium. The two-day event will feature more than 350 workshops, student showcases, round-table discussions, hands-on instruction and speakers. Organized to help shine a light on the most promising efforts in STEM education, the event has become a resource for schools and teachers as they look for ways to steer more students to the subjects that are increasingly essential for so many careers and college admission.
Michigan
Gov. Rick Snyder visiting Flint to celebrate grand opening of Kettering's FIRST Community Center (MLive)
Gov. Rick Snyder will be in Flint Friday to help celebrate the new FIRST Community Center at Kettering University. Snyder will join Kettering President Robert McMahan, President of FIRST Robotics Don Bossi, Flint Mayor Dayne Walling and Jennifer Liversedge of the C.S. Mott Foundation, among others, to unveil the new center, which is the first of its kind in the country. The grand opening for the Kettering center, which will house eight high school robotics teams, is set for 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19 with a short program. An old gymnasium at Kettering that sat vacant was transformed into the FIRST Center. A machine shop will be created next to the center for high school teams to use.

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Maker Ed Runs Education Stage at World Maker Faire, Announces Launch of Free Online Resource Library
The Maker Education Initiative (Maker Ed) is thrilled to run the Education Stage at World Maker Faire in New York on September 20 and 21, where the organization will also announce the launch of its online Resource Library. Maker Ed�s Education Stage will bring together educators from across the country to share their experiences and insights with the maker education community through more than 25 presentations, workshops, and networking sessions. Maker Ed�s work at World Maker Faire would not be possible without the generous support and volunteer efforts of Pearson and in kind support from Cognizant and Maker Media. Made possible through the generous support of Intel Corporation, Maker Ed�s Resource Library is a dynamic and interactive digital archive intended to help educators and facilitators from all backgrounds get started �� and continue �� making in education.

2014 PLTW Summit Speakers Will Include Former U.S. Secretary of Education and 2013 Teacher of the Year
Former U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. William Bennett and 2013 National Teacher of the Year Jeff Charbonneau are confirmed keynote speakers for the 2014 PLTW Summit, taking place November 2-5, 2014, in Indianapolis. The PLTW Summit will bring together more than 1,500 teachers and administrators; university, corporate and foundation partners; and community and government leaders who work together every day to help students develop the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. The national event will serve as a catalyst for collaboration and strategies that can help solve the education and workforce development challenges facing our nation. The 2014 PLTW Summit is sponsored by Chevron. Chevron believes that few things are more important to students and the future of American competitiveness than a quality education. Education is a building block for economic development and employability, and Chevron is proud to champion STEM education to arm students with the critical skills they need to succeed in the future.

5 Simple Actions to Recruit More Women into Manufacturing and Close the Gender Gap
The manufacturing industry is currently experiencing a shortage of women in the workforce, representing only 24 percent of the manufacturing labor force. Women are the missing element in closing the skills gap and increasing the industry�s competitiveness. In order to attract more women into this industry there are several best practices that can be implemented. TALK One of the most significant changes manufacturers can make is to break the negative connotations associated with the industry. Sending executive and leading women to recruit next-generation workers can help break down these false perceptions. Targeting women graduates with strong STEM skills and supporting STEM education initiatives will increase the likelihood in recruiting women into the industry.