“Teachable Moments” Program Awards Certificates for STEM Outreach Training

On October 28, 2014 in the Marcus Nanotechnology Building Conference Room Suite, before the start of the Nano@Tech lecture at noon, Dr. James Meindl, Professor Emeritus, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech, will present the first group of Volunteer STEM Outreach Ambassadors from the “Teachable Moments” Program with certificates of outreach training completion and STEM outreach kits.

Directing kids to the vast opportunities that await them in the future of the high tech workforce is the goal of Meindl’s “Teachable Moments” Legacy Program. The project allows the general public and students to go online and fund a laboratory based graduate student research project being conducted in the multidisciplinary cleanroom space housed at the Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology at Georgia Tech. After the project is funded, the student donors have the opportunity to actively participate in the research with the graduate student mentor in charge of the project.

To fund the projects, $1,000 stipends have been created with cost share commitments from Meindl, the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), the ACE/Sloan Legacy Project, and the Vice President of Institute Diversity. To engage the public in sponsoring these activities, the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) crowd funding website has set aside space where the public can contribute funds to any of 20 graduate student projects. Donors get to be involved with desired “Teachable Moments” in various ways, ranging from Skype time with the researcher to research lab tours. In addition to the outreach training and kits, graduate students involved will receive a stipend to create a demonstration and will gain public exposure for their research.

To learn more about the “Teachable Moments for the Future STEM Workforce” project, visit the website at this link.

- Christa Ernst

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