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Making STEM Matter for the Next Generation of Astronauts and Engineers
Tweet Share on Facebook March 18, 2013 CommentAs an aspiring scientist in Baltimore in the 1970s, Robert Curbeam would stand at the end of his street and marvel at NASA's Skylab space station when he could see it floating in the sky. Decades later, as an astronaut, he would see space firsthand and put his STEM skills to use installing and repairing equipment on the International Space Station during several missions. Curbeam, 51, participated in three NASA spaceflights and was the first astronaut to complete four spacewalks during a single mission. He retired from the space agency in 2007 and now serves as vice president for mission assurance for Massachusetts-based aerospace and defense company Raytheon. Curbeam recently spoke with U.S. News about what sparked his early interest in science and engineering and how to inspire the next generation of STEM leaders. Excerpts:
What inspired you to study engineering?
When I was growing up, my mom was a chemistry teacher and I really, really took to it. When I started looking at colleges, I found out that I really had a keener interest in engineering. Also, when I was in middle school, I had a very good friend…[and] he and I used to spend a lot of time together trying to design a better car or a better plane, things like that. To us it just seemed like it made sense that there were so many things that didn't change about the car for so long that we could do it better at age 12 or 13.
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Many High Schoolers Giving Up on STEM
Tweet Share on Facebook January 31, 2013 CommentHigh school students aren't sticking with STEM. Even though the number of jobs in science and engineering is expected to surge in the years to come, close to 60 percent of the nation's students who begin high school interested in science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM, change their minds by graduation, according to a report released Wednesday from STEMconnector and college planning service My College Options.
Overall student interest has been gradually climbing for about a decade, with about 1 in 4 of all high schoolers excited about pursuing a STEM major or career. But keeping many of those students attracted to such subjects is proving a challenge. "Tying education to the workforce needs is critical to the future of the nation," said STEMconnector CEO Edie Fraser at a town hall event Wednesday announcing the release of the report. Science and engineering careers are expected to grow more than 20 percent by 2018, twice the rate of the overall U.S. labor force.
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Siemens Competition Winner Develops New Robot Movement Process
Tweet Share on Facebook December 4, 2012 CommentThe winner of the Siemens Competition, which pits high school science, math, and technology students against each other, has designed a robot maneuvering system that is up to four times faster than current systems.
Kensen Shi's algorithm, called Lazy Toggle PRM, can compute routes through a room or outdoor area four times faster than other algorithms, which could be useful for robots used in search and rescue operations. Shi is a high school senior from A&M Consolidated High School in Texas. Shi beat out five other finalists to win a $100,000 college scholarship.
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Book Club: A New Way to Create
Tweet Share on Facebook October 23, 2012 CommentIf you believe the pundits, America doesn’t make anything anymore—you just won’t find “Made in the U.S.A.” on shirt tags, electronics, or other goods. But the truth, according to entrepreneur and Wired Editor in Chief Chris Anderson, is that America is going through a manufacturing renaissance. It just doesn’t look the same as it did in the aftermath of World War II. In Makers: The New Industrial Revolution, Anderson argues that 3-D printing, online design tools, and funding from crowdsourcing websites such as Kickstarter will propel America’s economy going forward. U.S. News spoke with Anderson about the role individuals and small businesses will play in manufacturing. Excerpts:
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Industry, Educators Build In-roads to STEM Success
Tweet Share on Facebook August 15, 2012 CommentVince Bertram is President and CEO of Project Lead the Way.
America has a crisis. First, of the 3.2 million students who earned high school diplomas this year, at least one third of those who attend college from this group will require remediation. Second, while the news is better for students earning diplomas, over 1 million students who should have graduated in 2012 did not. These underprepared and disengaged graduates and dropouts are part of a crisis in the United States. If our nation is to maintain or regain its economic and leadership status in the world, it must address the threat of poorly educated and underskilled young people.
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U.S. News Inducts Five to STEM Leadership Hall of Fame
Tweet Share on Facebook July 26, 2012 CommentDALLAS—It doesn’t take a nuclear physicist to determine that the future of the United States depends heavily on science, technology, engineering, and math, but bolstering education and recruiting more workers in these fields is no easy feat. While experts have noted that at least half the growth in the U.S. gross domestic product over the last 50 years has been due to science and engineering, many say the United States is losing its competitive luster in the fields. The United States ranks 27th among developed countries in the proportion of college students earning bachelor’s degrees in science or engineering, according to a 2010 National Academies report. Mobilizing the STEM workforce requires considerable collaboration between the private and public sectors, careful communication about the importance of STEM, and changing the culture related to the fields, according to a panel of experts recognized for their contributions to STEM at U.S.News & World Report’s inaugural STEM Solutions 2012 Summit in Dallas last month.
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STEM Heavy Hitters Close Out U.S. News Conference
Tweet Share on Facebook June 29, 2012 CommentDALLAS—Over the course of three days and more than 30 panels, experts talked about the science, technology, engineering, and math education crisis in the United States—but the final panel was easily the most impassioned and lively of them all, with STEM education's heavy hitters finally getting their chance to weigh in.
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Twitter Showcases Vibrant STEM Conversation
Tweet Share on Facebook June 29, 2012 CommentThe field of STEM has been front and center during the first-ever U.S. News STEM Solutions summit in Dallas. The three-day event brought together some of the most influential minds in the country to discuss STEM problems and solutions in the classroom and in the marketplace.
Conference attendees and STEM professionals joined in on the conversation on Twitter—contributing more than 1,500 tweets around the #STEMSolutions12 hashtag. Here are some of our favorites over the past three days.
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Teachers Are Key to Building STEM Brand
Tweet Share on Facebook June 29, 2012 CommentEven with the numerous conversations surrounding STEM jobs and opportunities, there has been difficulty in exciting and inspiring enough students to pursue a science, technology, engineering, or math career, experts say.
While many of the discussions focus on funding, after-school programs, and finding ways to increase the buzz around STEM, the practice of engaging teachers to pursue STEM-related teaching jobs has been lost in the conversation, Tanya Van Court, a senior vice president at Discovery Education told attendees at the U.S. News STEM SOLUTIONS summit in Dallas Friday.
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Community Colleges a Key Ingredient to STEM Success
Tweet Share on Facebook June 29, 2012 CommentDALLAS--Improving STEM education in the U.S. is not necessarily a matter of sending more students to Stanford or MIT. Inspiring even a few more students to go a few miles to the nearest community college could be enough to boost STEM-educated people into the workforce, says Uri Treisman, professor of mathematics at the University of Texas-Austin.
"A 10, 15 percent increase in [STEM degree] completion would solve our national problem," he said, speaking at the 2012 U.S. News STEM Solutions Summit.
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Advanced Placement math and science courses provide rigorous training for college, and these 250 schools excel in preparing students with technical skills.
U.S. News STEM Leadership Hall of Fame
Richard B. Alley
Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences Penn State
Mary L. Good
Special Adviser to the Chancellor for Economic Development University of Arkansas-Little Rock
Freeman A. Hrabowski III
President University of Maryland--Baltimore County
Tom Luce
Chairman National Math + Science Initiative
Ray Mellado
Chairman & CEO Great Minds in STEM
