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Antares Rocket
The science we lost when the Antares rocket exploded (Mashable)
More than 1,600 pounds of scientific equipment and experiments were destroyed when a NASA-contracted rocket exploded just six seconds after takeoff from Virginia on Tuesday evening. The Antares rocket was carrying a Cygnus spacecraft that was packed with 5,000 pounds of supplies for the International Space Station. One-third of that load was dedicated to an exceptional scientific payload that included student experiments, a human health study and equipment that would have been used to study meteors. "We lost quite a bit of research hardware," said space station manager Mike Suffredini. He added that NASA would find another opportunity for the researchers and scientists to fly their experiments to the space station at a later date.
Student Space Experiments Blow Up Along With Antares Rocket (NBC News)
Tuesday�s evening�s explosion of an unmanned Antares rocket seconds after liftoff was not only a setback to Orbital Sciences Corp. but also for students across the country whose science experiments were included in the payload. Orbital�s rocket was carrying a Cygnus cargo ship filled with supplies bound for the International Space Station. Also on board the spacecraft were 18 student flight experiments, covering everything from creating crystals in space to the effects of microgravity on chrysanthemum seeds. The projects were chosen from among nearly 1,500 proposals submitted by students in school districts in the U.S. and Canada under the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program. 
Industry
JA Worldwide Unveils New Online Program to Ignite Teen Interest in Science & Technology Careers (Alcoa)
JA Worldwide (JA) today announced a new partnership with Alcoa Foundation to launch a global curriculum that will bring enhanced STEM education to middle and high school students. JA Worldwide received a $750,000 investment from Alcoa Foundation to create JA Assembling Your Career, a program comprised of supplemental STEM career sessions for students in JA markets across the globe. JA Assembling Your Career contains three interactive, STEM-focused activities that can be used by volunteers or teachers in the classroom as stand-alone activities, or as an enhancement to existing high school JA programs.
Diversity in STEM
Connecting minorities with science jobs at UMES (Delmarva Daily Times)
A collaboration between a federal agency and a Lower Shore university is trying to narrow that racial and ethnic divide. The University of Maryland Eastern Shore is hosting a science education forum this week that is the keystone in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's efforts to engage minority students. The four-day conference, which kicked off Sunday, is expected to draw 400 college students, community leaders and nationally recognized researchers to the Princess Anne campus. It takes place every two years at one of the NOAA program's partner institutions. The NOAA Educational Partnership Program with Minority-Serving Institutions represents a $14 million slice of the $3 billion that the federal government spends each year on [STEM].
Lior Shamir: How Can We Make Computer Science a More Women-Friendly Discipline? (ImpactX)
A lot of attention has been given to increasing the number of women in computer science, but despite numerous efforts the presence of female students in computer science programs is still far below the 50 percent equilibrium. In the department where I teach just about 10 percent of the students are women, and things aren't much better at most other institutes of higher education. In fact, women representation in computer science programs is significantly worse than it was in the 1980's, when about one third of the students were women. One of the reasons is the way academic institutes approach STEM education, and computer science in particular.
Pitt working to attract female engineering doctoral students (The Pitt News)
After the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) determined Pitt�s Swanson School of Engineering to be the U.S. university with the highest percentage of doctoral degrees awarded to women in engineering from 2010 to 2011, the school has dropped below the top 20 in the last two years. Gerald Holder, U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering at Swanson, said this year the school dropped to less than 30 percent of doctoral degrees awarded to women because so many women who graduated in the previous few years haven�t been replaced by new female students.
Hour of Code
Mark Zuckerberg And John Doerr Donate $1M To Expand The Hour Of Code Campaign (TechCrunch)
In the three weeks that the campaign has been up on IndieGogo, Code.org�s effort to crowdfund training for teachers to increase the number of students participating in the Hour of Code has raised about $294,000, 6% of the campaign�s stated $5 million goal. That number is about to get a significant boost, with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan donating $500,000. John and Ann Doerr are also pitching in $500K, and Code.org has also informed TechCrunch that serial entrepreneur Rich Barton is making a donation of $25K. Code.org gave itself plenty of time to reach its goal � the IndieGogo campaign ends December 14. With 47 days left, it�s now well past the $1 million mark and that�s before matching donations come in from Bill Gates and Microsoft, Reid Hoffman, Salesforce, Google, and others.
Higher Education
Cadets help with STEM questions on Homework Hotline (U.S. Air Force Academy)
Two Academy cadets headed to Pueblo Oct. 24 to help youngsters with their homework and answer questions about applying to the Air Force's Academy. Cadets 3rd Class Warren Metcalf and Casey Evans appeared on "Homework Hotline" on KTSC, Colorado State University-Pueblo's Public Broadcasting Service channel. Homework Hotline allows grade school children to call in with their homework questions and win prizes for answering science or math questions posed by the show's hosts. Metcalf and Evans volunteered to appear on the show through the Academy's STEM Club.
Wichita State program using theoretical zombie attack to promote math modeling (Wichita Eagle)
Engineering students at Wichita State University are trying to teach the value of math modeling by challenging area high schoolers to devise a math-modeled plan to survive a zombie attack. The program is ongoing, and teachers can request it at their schools, WSU said. Those who take part use math to solve complex problems with limited resources, WSU said in a statement. The students are given a zombie problem, as well as limited time to manage limited supplies of water, bullets and food. And there are the projected kill rates of zombies, and calculations involving rates of zombie encroachment. Students from the WSU college of engineering�s SEEDS program (Science and Engineering Education Development for Students) put on the program.
STEM Events
Talent Pipeline Management Conference: A New Approach to Closing the Skills Gap (U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation)
On November 19, 2014, we will be releasing a white paper and hosting a national conversation. Join us at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. to find out how employers, educators, policymakers, and workforce professionals can get involved in this growing movement, hear from those already putting talent pipeline management practices into action, and find out how this model will be scaled in communities across the country.
STEM Competitions
AFA's CyberPatriot Receives $55,500 Education Grant for Participant Scholarships (PRNewswire)
The Air Force Association's CyberPatriot program announced today the program received $55,500 from the National Security Agency (NSA) to be designated for participant scholarships. With this support, CyberPatriot will continue its growth nationally and provide students financial assistance towards college tuition. "We are grateful for the support of the NSA. We not only value their support for CyberPatriot's mission, but we also consider it an investment in America's cyber future," said CyberPatriot National Commissioner Bernie Skoch. "We are thrilled to be able to provide participants an opportunity to gain valuable experience in combating cybercrimes, but to also make paying for college less of a burden." CyberPatriot is presented by the Northrop Grumman Foundation, with the support of Development Partner CIAS at the University of Texas-San Antonio. Other sponsors include Cyber Diamond.
National STEM Video Game Challenge Open For Submissions (Game Politics)
Student submissions for original video games and game designs to the National STEM Video Game Challenge are open today. The national contest is presented by E-Line Media, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and the Smithsonian. The Challenge aims to motivate young people to be more interested in [STEM] learning by using the power of playing and making video games. Now in its fourth year, the competition is held in partnership with founding sponsor the Entertainment Software Association and the s support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), The Grable Foundation, AARP, and Mentor Up. |
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Stay Connected
      
 STEMconnector�
CollegeWeekLive and STEMconnector Partner to Encourage the Pursuit of STEM Degrees
.jpg) CollegeWeekLive, the leading website where students and colleges meet live online, today announced that it has forged an alliance with STEMconnector�, the definitive source for STEM information. This partnership will highlight the importance of STEM in society and how graduates with STEM degrees are driving breakthrough innovations. Students will discover how pursuing a STEM education can lead to exciting career opportunities in fields such as food security, medical research, mobile application design and more. Students and their families, teachers, and high school counselors are invited to participate in CollegeWeekLive�s popular All Access Virtual College Fair on November 13, 2014 where they can watch live video presentations about STEM careers which are in demand; hear about special initiatives such as Million Women Mentors that help young women earn STEM degrees and enter the workforce; chat live with STEMconnector representatives; and enter to win the event�s $2,500 Scholarship. �We are excited to partner with CollegeWeekLive to help spread the message of how important STEM is to our country and how students can benefit in the long run by pursuing careers that incorporate STEM education,� said Edie Fraser, CEO of STEMconnector.
100 Diverse Corporate Leaders in STEM - Eduardo Conrado of Motorola Solutions
 Eduardo Conrado is senior vice president, marketing & IT, for Motorola Solutions. "In 2013, the Motorola Solutions Foundation provided over $4.7 million in grants to support educational programs, with a specific emphasis on STEM education. In North America, approximately 150,000 students received an average of 92 hours of STEM education from programs Motorola Solutions Foundation supported during 2013. For example, the Motorola Solutions Foundation joined Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel�s initiative to help cultivate the next generation of scientists and engineers in February 2012 by supporting a new early college STEM school, the Chicago Vocational Career Academy. More than 100 Motorola Solutions employees are working with administrators, teachers, students and parents at the school to support 150 students in their pursuit of science- and technology-related careers through curriculum development, extracurricular activities and mentorship. Our goal in 2014 is to reach over 150,000 students and teachers in STEM education efforts, globally."
The EdTech Weekly Report: October 27, 2014
 This week in an all-new EdTech Weekly Report- online math learning site startup for secondary students KnowRe raises $6.8M, report finds teachers underutilize resources for digital games in the classroom, Galvanize launches year-long data science bootcamp that gives you a masters in engineering, Netop launches Vision ME iPad- a classroom workflow app designed to make teaching in iPad classrooms easier, and much more! |
