ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. - Exciting elementary students about the world of math and science, working with teachers to enhance engineering curriculums and paving pathways to future careers for college students describes this year's busy summer of outreach for the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command's communications-electronics center, or CERDEC, headquartered here.
Since 1994, CERDEC has actively supported an outreach program to encourage and retain student interest in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, by hosting and participating in local and national STEM initiatives.
"By dedicating our time to work directly with students and teachers through these programs we can help build the future science and engineering workforce of this country. We have the resources and the expertise to open opportunities for local students in STEM, and because of that, it's our responsibility to do so," said Jill Smith, CERDEC director.
This was the first summer CERDEC hosted its math and science summer camp entirely in Maryland, following the center's relocation from Fort Monmouth, N.J. due to the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Law.
Eighty-one students in grades five to 10 participated in hands-on, week-long sessions taught by local teachers. The curriculum was based on the science subjects the students will learn in the upcoming school year. Sessions incorporated science and math concepts in sports materials, food packaging, composites, snap circuits, electrical connections and engineering.
"Honestly, my mom sort of signed me up. Of course I just said 'okay' because I had no choice right there. I thought on my first day it was just going to be boring but then I got to interact with people, I got to do all this fun engineering stuff, and the teachers, they really taught us a lot about the different engineering fields, that just got me really interested in everything," said Saidi Williams, Edgewood High School student.
CERDEC's outreach efforts didn't end with the students; CERDEC participated in Harford Community College's STEM Teaching Academy, where CERDEC engineers taught a four-hour electrical engineering workshop.
"The goal of the program was very clear; it was intended to arm teachers with knowledge to introduce kids to engineering to "ignite the spark of science," a Senior Science Society mantra, and especially to provide takeaways - ideas and electronically-available info that the teachers could use in their classrooms," said Dr. Bruce P. Burns, recently elected President of the Senior Science Society of Harford County who helped organize the STEM Teaching Academy. "I pulsed teachers a lot during the week about whether or not they were getting takeaways, and the response was always very positive."
CERDEC engineers provided an overview of the electrical engineering field and discussed with teachers ways to improve engineering curriculums, approaches to teaching tough concepts to different age levels and how to increase student interest in STEM.
"It was gratifying to see the effort that the teachers were putting into the planning of their curriculum. This was very evident from the questions they were asking as well as their focus on presenting the material in their classrooms in a manner that their students could relate to," said Kavita Goverdhanam, electronics engineer, CERDEC Space & Terrestrial Communications Directorate.
One area that seemed to get the students attention this summer was the field trips. Summer camp classes visited CERDEC laboratories that specialize in software engineering, intelligence and information processing, and communication and networking. Another popular trip was to the National Electronics Museum in Linthicum, Md.
"I mostly liked how it wasn't just them telling you about an engineering program, they actually had you experience engineering," said Marcus Garrier, Hillsboro High School student.
By placing students in real-world engineering situations, students went beyond simply seeing what an engineer does to having a hand at it themselves by designing projects including alarms, strobe lights, electronic games, miniature golf courses and more.
While the summer camp programs focused on students in fifth to tenth grade, CERDEC also mentored college students in the Science, Mathematics & Research for Transformation, or SMART, Scholarship for Service Program. SMART is a Department of Defense program that provides undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students majoring in a STEM-related field paid summer internships with DoD labs and helps fund part of their education.
In July CERDEC welcomed six new SMART scholars who will work in the center's labs starting next summer. These six joined three other SMART scholars who interned at APG this summer and a number of CERDEC SMART scholars who have graduated and are now on staff.
"I literally learn something new every day. Whether it's learning how a fuel cell works or how to strip wires with a wire cutter," said Jaclyn Lynch, a junior studying mechanical engineering at the University of Virginia, who interned with the CERDEC Command and Control Directorate, Army Power Branch, this summer.
As the summer draws to a close and students head back to school, CERDEC's outreach efforts won't slow down, said Ron Seldon, CERDEC outreach specialist.
"CERDEC will continue working with students and teachers through a number of in-school and after-school STEM programs this school year. Training and motivating students to maintain an interest in STEM throughout their education and beyond is a year round mission," he said.
Related Links:
U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command
U.S. Army RDECOM Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center
Social Sharing