ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. -- Serving the local community and fostering a love for STEM is more than a job, it is a passion for a team at the DEVCOM Analysis Center, or DAC.
DAC cyber analysts Óscar Pérez, Ph.D., Sebastián Quiñones, Diana Ramírez, Juán Ulloa, and Herándy Vázquez, are all part of the team at DAC White Sands Missile Range, or WSMR, New Mexico, that were recently recognized as recipients for the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, Excellence in Service Team Award. This award recognizes the team’s distinction in public service for the advancement of education, economic, health and diversity accomplishments within underrepresented populations of the nation.
The team focused their efforts on a variety of community initiatives: DAC’s year-round internship programs, hosting and attending recruitment efforts, hands-on workshops that impact thousands of K-12 students and over 500 graduate and undergraduate students each year in order to encourage students to pursue STEM related fields, meeting with the University of Texas El Paso, or UTEP, students 50+ times on a yearly basis to provide feedback and technical expertise for their senior capstone projects – the list truly does go on.
On August 3, the team participated in LULAC's 94th National Convention and Exposition in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where they were presented with LULAC's Defenders of Freedom crystal plaques.
Also in attendance for this occasion were DAC leadership members Brig. Gen. David Trybula, interim acting director of DAC, and Mr. Dan Landin and Ms. Isabel Goode, DAC division chiefs from WSMR.
“We’re going to continue engaging with students and teachers to identify, develop, recruit and bring awareness on STEM careers, cybersecurity specifically,” said Vázquez. “We hope to promote the pipeline that keeps the flow of students to university programs and fill analytic gaps for the Army of 2040.”
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