On Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018, the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education at Stevens (CIESE) hosted Project IMPACT STEM: a collaboration between Stevens Institute of Technology and Lockheed Martin designed to increase involvement in STEM fields among middle schoolers and secondary school guidance counselors. “Project IMPACT STEM is comprised of an integrated set of two proven Stevens programs – STEM-a-thon and Students in STEM School Counselor Conference – that, together, create elements of an opportunity pipeline to attract and support students, especially those traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields of study and careers,” stated Manager of Media Relations Katherine Cutler.
Project IMPACT STEM was divided into two programs; STEM-a-thon, and Students in STEM School Counselor Conference. The STEM-a-thon targeted 8th graders, with over 300 students in attendance in school districts across Hudson Country including Newark, Weehawken, Bayonne, West New York, and Jersey City. The program for students opened with remarks from Dr. Nariman Farvardin, the President of Stevens Institute of Technology, and Jeffery Wilcox, a Vice President of Corporate Engineering and Program Operations at Lockheed Martin. Following the opening address, students broke into two groups to tackle Engineering Design problems. For these design problems, students were joined by members of the Stevens community who were “immersed in research in the areas of brain biomechanics and race car design.”
In multiple areas of campus, make-shift labs were created for visiting students to utilize. In Schafer Gym, the Stevens FSAE (Formula SAE) Team and its advisor, Dr. Alex DeRosa from the department of Mechanical Engineering hosted a workshop in which students created simple rubber-band race cars. In Walker Gym, Dr. Mehmet Kurt and Dr. Gloria Fabris hosted a workshop in which student designed and tested helmets using crash dummies.
During the same day, The STEM School Counselor Conference hosted fifty middle school and high school guidance counselors in order to make more aware of STEM fields and technologies. The keynote speaker was Steven Betza, corporate director of Future Workforce & Strategic Outreach at Lockheed Martin, who delivered an address on Emerging Technologies in 2025 and beyond. Many of the other presentations were information about STEM fields. During the event, counselors heard from both higher education professionals, and STEM professionals about different pathways to pursue STEM Careers. Speakers included Dave Curren, Meteorologist for News 12 New Jersey, Todd Whitelock, a Grammy award-winning music producer, and Liesel Jones, Dean of STEAM at Union Community College. Counselors also had presentations on how to encourage students to pursue STEM fields and what colleges look for in STEM applicants.
According to Chana Meystelman, one of the Stevens students who helped at the event, “I really enjoyed the experience because I was able to interact with who in a couple of years could be where I am and doing what I am. I was able to see the kids apply problem-solving abilities to create unique and innovative solutions to problems at hand. You could really see blossoming engineers. It was a nice feeling knowing I was able to make at least one kid understand how cool STEM is.” The event was beneficial for all involved.
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