What: STEM career session for K-12 students at UTEP’s Southwest Emerging Technology Symposium
When: 10-11:30 a.m. Saturday, April 1, 2017
Where: Wyndham El Paso Airport, 2027 Airway Blvd.
EL PASO, Texas – Regional students in grades K-12 can learn more about careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields by attending a free, hour-and-a-half educational session Saturday, April 1 at the Wyndham El Paso Airport.
Continuing UTEP’s outreach to local K-12 schools, the University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering will offer the information session for students as part of its annual Southwest Emerging Technology Symposium (SETS). The symposium provides career-building opportunities for students from UTEP and across the country in a professional conference setting, connecting these students with researchers, scholars and industry professionals for possible recruitment opportunities.
Session participants include RAND Corp. Senior Policy Researcher Michael McGee, Ph.D.; NASA Johnson Space Center Chief Technologist for the Propulsion and Power Division John H. Scott; NASA Glenn Research Center Chief of the Chemical and Thermal Propulsion Systems Branch Mark Klem; FBM Director of Programs with Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. Nick Gonzales; Acting Crosscutting Technology Manager in the Office of Strategic Planning for the U.S. Department of Energy Robert Romanosky; and Director of the W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation at UTEP Ryan Wicker, Ph.D.
“It is of utmost importance to engage students in STEM early, especially in our community,” said Ahsan Choudhuri, Ph.D., professor and chair of UTEP’s mechanical engineering department and organizer of the symposium. “Through several programs, we are rolling out unprecedented outreach efforts to build a strong STEM pipeline in every ZIP code in our region. Research confirms it is during the K-12 years that interest in these in-demand fields is initiated, then cultivated to ensure a future workforce in STEM. We’ve recruited these industry experts, some who are first-generation graduates, to motivate and inspire our future engineers and scientists.”
Those interested in attending should email Patricia Uptergrove at peuptergrove@utep.edu or call 915-747-8253.
Parents are welcome and encouraged to attend.