CORPORATIONS AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES, AND PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS ARE ACTIVE TO ENCOURAGE STUDENTS IN THE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) FIELDS.

NEW WEBSITE SPARTICL.ORG LAUNCHES TO GROW TEEN ENTHUSIASM FOR STEM
Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) and 3M launched Sparticl.org, a new online and mobile destination offering teens the best in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) the web has to offer. Developed to address declining student interest in STEM, Sparticl invites teens into a community of learning, where they can contribute to the content collection as they learn from it. A completely free, online, and mobile destination for STEM, Sparticl features articles, videos, games, and hands-on activities from hundreds of sites, all vetted by a team of experts who scour the web for quality teenappropriate content.

Science, technology, engineering, and math are the foundation of innovation and problem solving in this era of global competitiveness, and essential skills for success in work and in life in the 21st century. Yet test results the world over consistently show that student interest in STEM subjects dramatically decreases in middle school.

“The web can be bewildering and frustrating for students searching for STEM content, yet there are excellent STEM websites that students never find because they’re not on the first page of Google,” says Dr. Richard Hudson, executive producer at TPT. “Sparticl makes search simple by bringing together the best of the best—it’s great for homework or satisfying a curiosity about anything from nanotechnology, to rainforests, to baseball physics.

Funded by St. Paul-based 3M, Sparticl has been in development for more than two years.

“STEM education is critical to our success at 3M, as well as sustaining global communities. Sparticl helps create the next generation of innovative thinkers,” notes Kim Price, vice president of 3Mgives, 3M’s philanthropic and community engagement effort. “Science and engineering education is a priority of our giving and volunteer programs. 3M sponsored TPT’s production of the classic science series Newton’s Apple, and we’re delighted to partner with TPT once again on another ground-breaking STEM initiative.” Even more important are the social and gaming features we’ve created to keep kids coming back again and again.”

REINFORCES COMMITMENT TO DEVELOPING NEXT GENERATION OF STEM LEADERS
The U.S. Army and Great Minds in STEM (GMiS) have renewed their mutual commitment to preparing Hispanic youth for education and career opportunities in the fields of science, technology, engineering. and mathematics (STEM). The Army partnered with GMiS at the 25th Annual Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference (HENAAC), in New Orleans in early October. As a proud supporter of GMiS for nearly ten years, the Army will continue to work with GMiS to provide students with resources, information, and mentorships to help them achieve their academic and career goals.

Economic analysts predict that in order for the U.S. to remain a competitor in the STEM fields, approximately one million more STEM professionals will have to be trained over the next decade. To help address this challenge, the Army highlighted its numerous education resources and career opportunities during the HENAAC conference. Army representatives also highlighted the more than 40 free education programs it provides to students, teachers and parents, including March2Success, a free online tool that enhances learning and prepares students for standardized tests.

At the conference, an interactive exhibit featured advanced military technologies with soldiers on-hand to answer questions about STEM careers in the Army. Understanding that mentorship is crucial to developing future leaders, Army representatives also conducted seminars on developing leadership skills, and participated in the conference’s Protege Mentorship Track to discuss interview tips and professional development with students.

The Army is committed to ensuring their officer corps reflects the face of our nation, and partnerships like this one are very important to this mission.

WOMEN OF COLOR STEM CONFERENCE RECOGNIZES 18 NORTHROP GRUMMAN EMPLOYEES
The 2013 Women of Color STEM Conference, held in Dallas in October, recognized 18 Northrop Grumman Corporation employees for their outstanding achievements within the STEM arena. In addition to honoring outstanding women in the field, the conference provides opportunities for professional development, networking, and recruiting.

Camille D’Annunzio, manager of the Automated Sensor Exploitation Technology Center in Northrop Grumman’s Electronic Systems sector, was named the Technologist of the Year. Her many achievements include a U.S. patent, a Northrop Grumman invention disclosure. She has also presented 17 papers and 36 technical reports. At Northrop Grumman, she has contributed to advancements in chemical/biological threat situational awareness, force protection, and target recognition. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and chemistry from Cornell University and a doctorate in applied math from the University of Maryland.

Sonal Deshpande, vice president of Advanced Maritime and Integrated Air Missile Defense (IAMD) Systems, Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems sector, received special recognition for her leadership, problem solving, and technical prowess. Deshpande has had executive level responsibility for logistics, engineering, and manufacturing and currently oversees solutions focused on innovation, affordability, and open architecture for the maritime sensors and IAMD markets. She is actively involved in STEM education activities with middle and high school students. Deshpande earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland and her master’s degree in electrical engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

Pamela Jones, software development analyst, Northrop Grumman Enterprise Shared Services sector, received special recognition for her professional achievements and contributions to STEM. She has been a web developer, project manager and currently leads software engineering supporting key business objectives. Jones has twice gone before Congress to promote the need for greater emphasis on initiatives that promote women and minorities in STEM and was invited to write a congressional bill mandating STEM-related curriculum for all K-12 schools. Jones earned bachelor’s degrees in psychology and information systems management/computer science from the Johns Hopkins Kennedy Institute.

Additional Northrop Grumman employees receiving Technology All-Star awards at the conference were Laura Fishman, Michelle Griggs, Debora Wright Henley, Noriene Jee, and Angelique Le. Employees honored with Technology Rising Star awards were Andrea Adams, Brigette Blair, Michal Brown, Thalia Ellzey, Nikisa George, Shalini Gupta, Sudha Manimaran, Nefretiti Nassar, Iesha Pankey, and Sharon Zhou.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems, cyber, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and commercial customers worldwide

SILICON VALLEY BANK AND PARTNERS DEVELOP STEM SKILLS FOR FUTURE WORKFORCE
Incenting 6-12 grade students with free computer tablets, Silicon Valley Bank, financial partner to companies in the innovation sector, is teaming up with several partners to help engage young people in computer science. The company joins the Level Playing Field Institute and Virginia Advanced Study Strategies to introduce STEM skills to young people through new programs using low cost tablets this fall.

“We need to create a tech-savvy, highly skilled workforce to fuel innovation in America,” says Greg Becker, president and CEO of Silicon Valley Bank. “With a continued emphasis on STEM skills we can put people to work, stay competitive globally, and keep developing the technologies, medicines, devices and innovations that are solving human problems and improving the quality of people’s lives.”

“Teaching STEM skills to kids is not a brand new idea, but we have to ensure we broaden its appeal for everyone,” says Aneesh Chopra, former CTO of the U.S. “Government, business, the education system – we all have to keep the pressure on and the activity level high to turn the tide and get people interested and trained in subjects that are going to enable a stronger, technical workforce.

“Silicon Valley has a desperate shortage of talent,” says Vivek Wadhwa, vice president of innovation and research at Singularity University, a NASA Research Park-based center for higher learning that offers interdisciplinary, international, and intercultural experiences to challenge participants to use transformative, exponential technologies to address humanity’s greatest challenges. “At the same time there are hundreds of thousands of children who are left out of the digital economy. I am really excited that we are taking advantage of technology from the developing world to bridge this digital divide of the developed world.”

Two new programs aimed at giving young people access to mentors in computer science and tools to develop apps are kicking off this school year:

1. California Bay Area Hackathon: Level the Coding Field
“This hackathon allows us to expose a large number of kids in a weekend to computer science, and get them excited about a different path in life and a different set of opportunities,” says Sumaiya Talukdar, director of strategic partnerships of the Level Playing Field Institute.

Silicon Valley Bank partnered with Vivek Wadhwa of Singularity University, AT&T, The Kapor Center for Social Impact and Datawind to devise and deliver two weekend-long hackathons hosted by the Level Playing Field Institute in the Bay Area this fall. More than 250 6-12 graders from low income and minority groups underrepresented in computer science competed to win cash prizes for the best app, judged by a panel of investors, technologists, and educators. Each participating student also received a free Datawind Ubislate 3G Tablet, courtesy of Silicon Valley Bank and three months of a 1 GB Wireless Data Plan, courtesy of AT&T. Events were held on October 26-27 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View and November 16-17 at Connexion at Jack London Place in Oakland. (www.lpfi.org/hackathon )

2. Virginia: Computer Coding Competition
Virginia Advanced Study Strategies is partnering with CodeAcademy, TeamTreehouse, and several foundations and businesses throughout Virginia to introduce middle and high school students to computer coding. Students are given access to computer application development software and challenged to build a working computer app. Those who are successful within the timeframe of a school semester will be recognized in January 2014 for their success, earn a digital badge for their career portfolio, and given a Datawind Ubislate 3G Tablet. (www.virginiaadvancedstudystrategies. org/staff/27-blog/118-virginiacomputer- coding-project.html)