Aerospace Leads Broad-Based STEM Initiatives across the Country
STEM Solutions Summit
AIA and member companies played major roles at the first national STEM Solutions Summit held in Dallas, Texas, June 27-29. Organized by U.S. News & World Report, with AIA co-chairing the summit, the gathering drew more than 1,500 STEM activists from across the country.
Wes Bush, chairman, CEO and president of Northrop Grumman, delivered a keynote speech underscoring the importance of STEM preparation for the workforce and describing various efforts and programs supported by his corporation. Rick Stephens, Boeing’s senior vice president of Human Resources and Administration, spoke on “The Need for Results.”
Brian Fitzgerald, CEO of the Business-Higher Education Forum, moderated a panel discussion on public-private partnerships entitled “Finding Common Ground: CEOs and College Presidents Propose Solutions,” in which new regional pilot projects spearheaded by Raytheon and Northrop Grumman were featured. Eighteen female senior executives from our industry - including AIA President and CEO Marion C. Blakey - were profiled in a book entitled 100 Women Leaders in STEM that was produced and released at a reception hosted by STEMconnector.
A video provided by AIA on the 2012 Team America Rocketry Challenge national finals was shown to open one of the plenary sessions, and clips on AIA and the Business and Industry STEM Education Coalition were among those projected before breakout panel discussions.
The next STEM Solutions Summit is scheduled for Austin in June 2013.
Business-Higher Education Forum Summer Meeting
AIA’s President and CEO Marion C. Blakey participated in a June 11 panel discussion on Capitol Hill where the Business-Higher Education Forum publicly launched a dozen regional pilot projects initiated by corporations and academic institutions to help develop the next generation workforce. The projects are located in ten states: California, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin.
One project, organized by Northrop Grumman and the University System of Maryland will create the nation’s first undergraduate multidisciplinary residential cyber security honors program. In California, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon are partnered with California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo to establish a cyber security undergraduate program as well as a graduate-level certificate program to attract a more diverse group of students to the high-demand field.
Raytheon, as a member of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership, is also involved in another pilot project with the University of Massachusetts System to create a multi-campus strategy focusing on community colleges to significantly increase the number of STEM degrees awarded to underrepresented minority students. The other nine partnerships involve companies outside the aerospace and defense industry.
At the BHEF meeting, Wes Bush, was elected to serve a one-year term as the organization’s chairman. The program also included a session on June 12 at the White House with administration officials to unveil BHEF’s new National Undergraduate STEM Partnership Strategy and the regional pilot projects. Both initiatives respond to a call from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology to focus greater attention on the first two years of college and adding one million additional STEM graduates over the next ten years.
SETforJOBS Social Networking Site Launched
At its June 6 working meeting, the Business and Industry STEM Education Coalition formally launched a new social networking site: www.SETforJOBS.com. The platform is designed to bring STEM professionals, educators, students and other stakeholders together to share thoughts, events, and opportunities that support STEM workforce development and jobs.
This unique site features video segments - including real people, real stories - photos, articles, interactive experiences, contests, educational tools and more. The site is unlike any other ever created for science, engineering, technology and mathematics because it enables a free-form, social networking community that allows members to discuss topics and events, share ideas and even engage in mentoring with national, local and state participants.
The value and impact of this tool depends entirely on having a lot of the right people actively participating. Please encourage everyone in your company or your community who is involved or interested in STEM education and workforce development to sign up. There is no cost to join or participate in the network.
July 11-12 AIA/NDIA/BISEC Workforce Committees Meeting with Washington STEM
About 150 people attended the second 2012 joint AIA/NDIA/BISEC Workforce Committees meeting with a state STEM network. Held at the Boeing Customer Experience Center in Renton, Washington, on July 11-12, the gathering drew the largest turnout for any of the state STEM meetings we have been holding since 2008. The forum was convened to share best practices, foster collaboration in STEM education activities, and make commitments to drive greater impact for students, communities and Washington state. Attendees included varieties of stakeholders: Industry members of Washington STEM, state officials, members of the academic community, STEM program providers, educators and philanthropic foundations.
Rick Stephens, Boeing’s senior vice president of Human Resources and Administration, welcomed attendees at the outset and delivered the keynote luncheon speech on July 11.
During the reception late afternoon on July 11, attendees were able to visit various product displays in the Customer Experience Center. The following afternoon they also had the option of taking a guided behind-the-scenes tour of the Boeing 737 plant in Renton.
Tennessee STEM meeting, September 5-6
The AIA Workforce Committee and NDIA STEM Workforce Division will hold a joint meeting with the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network on September 5-6 at the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI) in Tullahoma. The UTSI is a graduate education and research institution located in Middle Tennessee adjacent to the U.S. Air Force Arnold Engineering Development Center. The agenda is under development. If you wish to participate, please contact Susan Lavrakas.
AIA Source: susan.lavrakas[at]aia-aerospace.org
