|
Industry
Raytheon awards $300,000 in MathMovesU Middle School Scholarships (Raytheon)
 Raytheon Company awarded $300,000 in scholarships and grants to middle school students and their schools as part of its MathMovesU® program, an initiative designed to engage middle school students in math and science. Each of the 150 middle school students from across the United States will receive a $1,000 MathMovesU Middle School Scholarship to be used for a math, science or technology camp or program, or saved for the first year of college. Additionally, each recipient's school will receive a matching grant from Raytheon.
INDYCAR Accelerates Learning with "The Future of Fast" STEM Initiative Developed by Project Lead The Way (PLTW)
Applying lessons from the classroom and taking them to the racetrack will be the focus of “The Future of Fast,” an INDYCAR-themed STEM education program beginning in 2013. INDYCAR hopes to interest future engineers, mechanics and race fans by igniting their passion for math and science through the educational aspects of the sport. INDYCAR has formed a partnership for this initiative with Project Lead The Way, the nation’s leading provider of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) curriculum, and Jostens, a top provider of products, programs and services for schools. 
Government
NH's Shaheen: grant program would boost access to science, technology education (AP)
Schools that want to send students to robotics competitions and other contests that promote [STEM] would get some help under legislation introduced by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. The bill Shaheen filed Thursday would create a grant program within the U.S. Department of Education. The money could be used to pay for equipment or facility use fees connected to robotics competitions, to provide stipends for teachers or to cover the costs of entering competitions. Preference would be given to rural or urban schools, schools in low-income areas or low-performing schools, and schools would be required to provide a 50 percent match.
Jobs
Homegrown talent: An answer to Silicon Valley's STEM shortage? (Video) (Silicon Valley Business Journal)
If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a million times: Silicon Valley has a serious tech talent problem. Microsoft Corp. can attest to that first hand. “We have 6,000 job openings – more than half of which are for high tech jobs – that we cannot fill,” said Sid Espinosa, Microsoft’s director of corporate citizenship at an event at the tech giant’s Mountain View campus on Thursday. “We have to go overseas.”
Reports
High School Students Taking More Math and Science Courses (Education Week)
High school students are being told to take more rigorous math and science courses if they want to be prepared for college and get lucrative jobs in STEM careers. New data from the National Center for Education Statistics suggest they are taking that advice. In the 2013 Condition of Education report released Thursday, researchers looked at transcripts analyzed by the National Assessment of Educational Progress for 9th through 12th graders.
Though Enrolling More Poor Students, 2-Year Colleges Get Less of Federal Pie (New York Times)
Community colleges have received a declining share of government spending on higher education over the last decade even as their student bodies have become poorer and more heavily African-American and Latino, according to a report to be released Thursday. “Many community colleges end up receiving minimal federal support,” said Richard D. Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, which is publishing the report. “The kids with the greatest needs receive the fewest resources.”
Report Urges States to Establish Coherent Professional Learning Systems for Common Core (PRNewswire)
State education leaders should take the lead in efforts to create more coherent, comprehensive, and sustained statewide professional learning systems that help educators at every level meet the promise of the Common Core, according to a new policy brief released today by Learning Forward. Seizing the Moment: State Lessons for Transforming Professional Learning is a first look at lessons learned through Learning Forward’s ongoing initiative to develop a comprehensive system of professional learning that spans the distance from the statehouse to the classroom.
Higher Education
Harvard U. Receives $125-Million Gift for Biotech Research (The Chronicle)
Harvard University announced on Tuesday that Hansjörg Wyss had doubled down on a contribution to his namesake Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at the university with a $125-million gift. The institute was founded in 2009 with a previous $125-million gift from the Swiss-born medical-equipment mogul, who earned an M.B.A. from the university in 1965. The initial gift was reportedly the largest individual donation that Harvard had yet received.
STEM Competitions
Student teams compete in NASA's Lunabotics competition (Florida Today)
More than 700 college students representing 50 universities and eight countries came to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex this week to face off in the fourth-annual Lunabotics Mining Competition. The event brings some of the brightest young minds together for a common purpose: to discover a way to mine oxygen and water from soil found on celestial bodies.
NASA Announces Global Best in Class Winners for the International Space Apps Challenge (Research.gov)
A panel of international judges from NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and other partner organizations has selected five "best in class" solutions as winners of the 2013 International Space Apps Challenge. The challenge, in which participants developed software, hardware, data visualization, and mobile or Web applications that contribute to space exploration missions and help improve life on Earth, took place at 83 locations around the world April 20-21.
Viewpoints
Statement from the AAS on Proposed Elimination of NASA Science Education & Public Outreach Programs (The Planetary Society)
The American Astronomical Society (AAS) has issued a statement addressing the potential elimination of the education and public outreach (EPO) activities in NASA's Science Mission Directorate, as called for in President Obama’s fiscal year (FY) 2014 budget proposal. The AAS enthusiastically supports the Administration’s goals to increase the impact of federal education investments and to increase the numbers of teachers and graduates in STEM. But, according to the AAS, the proposed cuts “would dismantle some of the nation’s most inspiring and successful STEM education assets.”
Washington
Scholarships aim to encourage students to study science, engineering (KING5 News)
Boeing, Microsoft and Washington State want to encourage more students to enter engineering and scientific fields. This month another 800 scholarships worth up to $17,000 per student were issued. Those scholarships come in the second year of the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship program. The program started awarding grants last year to 3,000 students. The initial awards are $1,000 in the freshman and sophomore years that go to $5,000 a year once that student declares a major in one of the STEM fields, which include some 400 majors.
Massachusetts
Fall River students speak with orbiting astronaut (Turnto10.com)
NASA astronaut and flight engineer Chris Cassidy on Thursday joined students at the Talbot Innovation Middle School in Fall River via satellite downlink from space to answer questions about his job. The school is one of just six across the country that participated in this program, and it was all set up by science teacher Benjamin Squire. Students got a view of the Earth from the International Space Station before speaking with the orbiting astronaut.
STEM Innovation
Condi, John Doerr, Obama join virtual immigration march (Silicon Valley Business Journal)
 If you've been on Twitter this week, you may have seen the hashtag #iMarch. You may have also seen it on newly acquired Tumblr, Facebook or a host of other social media channels. On May 22 and 23, a group of immigration reform advocates spearheaded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg with backing from Silicon Valley politicians and tech leaders took to social media to lobby lawmakers.
Tesla Wires Half a Billion Dollars to the Government (MIT Tech Review)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk hinted it would happen, and now it’s happened. Tesla, the electric car maker, has paid off the DOE loan that allowed it to build a factory and start building and selling its Model S electric car. And it’s done so nine years ahead of schedule, according to the company. To pay off the loan, it wired $451.8 million to the government today. |
 |
Stay Connected
     
STEMconnector®
The Manufacturing Institute Launches The M List- The One Source for Skills
 The Manufacturing Institute is pleased to announce the charter members of the “M-List.” Recognizing excellence in manufacturing education, the M-List distinguishes schools that are preparing workers up to industry standards in advanced manufacturing. To remain competitive in the global marketplace, manufacturers require a highly skilled workforce—from the production floor to the design studio to the C-suite. The M-List recognizes high schools, community colleges, technical schools, and universities that are teaching manufacturing students to industry standards. The select schools on the M-List have arranged their coursework around industry standards, and they make sure students earn credentials that are in the NAM-Endorsed Manufacturing Skills Certifications.
Adriane Brown (President & COO, Intellectual Ventures): Are We Limiting Possibility?
 Children are born with wonderful strengths and abilities, including the power to excel at math and science. The obstacles and stereotypes that girls face in pursuing STEM education and STEM careers are artificial, and it is the responsibility of parents, teachers, role models, and every progressive society to remove barriers that constrain innovation and prevent the fullest possible participation in our future. There are many inspiring organizations in communities across the country devoted to encouraging young people to pursue STEM careers. For example, in the Northwest, Intellectual Ventures supports FIRST Robotics, Discovery Corps, and Expanding Your Horizons.
The Gooru Corner: The Moon (Featured Collection)
 Learn how the moon was formed, how it has evolved over time, and then explore it for yourself in 3D with the multimedia resources in this collection.
inSPIRE STEM USA Announces Support for House Immigration Bill
 inSPIRE STEM USA Co-Chairs John E. Sununu and Maria Cardona praised the high-skilled immigration bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) on Thursday, saying the coalition’s members would put their full weight behind a national fund to improve the nation’s [STEM] and computer science education system.
Rep. Foster Introduces Legislation To Prepare Students For 21st Century STEM Jobs
 Today, Congressman Bill Foster (IL-11) introduced the 21st Century STEM Competitive Jobs Act.. This legislation would help prepare students for careers in high-demand technical fields by supporting collaboration between schools and employers. |
