Tag Archives: STEM

irridescent_black
Nov 29 2012

Technovation challenge for girls 2013

Registration for this year’s Technovation challenge is open!

This contest aims to engage girls in technology and entrepreneurship by working with small teams (5 girls) of students, and an industry mentor to design, develop and pitch a mobile app. All lessons are on line. Girls can gather friends and a mentor and work at their own pace, although they are expected to complete the challenge in 12 weeks. Students do not need programming experience, they will learn these skills as they go along. Most important is the desire to help the community and to learn how to make it happen with technology.

Technovation is a program of Iridescent Learing, a non-profit bringing science and technology to minority and underrepresented students in California and New York.  Seems like it would do really well in start-up happy Portland. Teams submit videos and the winners are invited to San Francisco for the Big Pitch in San Francisco.

24554720
Nov 25 2012

Tour Mercedes Benz Technology Center with iUrban Youth Academy December 1

Our friends at iUrban Youth Academy are putting together a new opportunity –behind the scenes site tours of tech companies for teens. First up, on December 1,  is a tour of the Mercedes Benz Beaverton technology center. Sound good? Here’s more:

The iUrban Teen Tech Tours is a program developed for teens to gain exposure to the technology industry.  This will occur through a series of tours, events and presentations coordinated between iUrban Teen Tech Academy (www.iurbantech.com), and University of Portland Operations Management Association (UPOMA) as a follow-up program to the iUrban Teen Tech Summits.  The Teen Tech Tour will include a half-day event where students will tour a company and get a chance to observe industry leading processes and top-of-the-line technology.

Tours are limited to 35 students.

Register online.

Meet 7:30 a.m. at University of Portland Commons Building:

5000 N Willamette Blvd
Portland, OR 97217

Return 1:30 p.m.

code in
Nov 21 2012

Google Code-in starts Monday November 26, 2012

Check out this fun contest for teens 13 – 17 to complete a bunch of challenges and online tasks. Run by our friends at Google so you know its going to be fun!

The Google Code-in contest starts Monday, November 26. In this annual contest, pre-university students (13-17 years old) work on fun online tasks—such as documentation, marketing outreach, software coding, user experience research—for 10 different open source organizations. The end result? Students get to learn about and create open source software that people all over the world can use. Grand prize winners will get to visit the Googleplex in Mountain View, Calif.

My guess is that it will involve heavy use of Google tools like Google + and Hang Outs.  I would suggest you get your accounts up and running over the weekend so you’re ready!

More information available on  Google+, the Google blog post, and the program site.

Get in at the start of it and you won’t miss the first Google hang-out on the Code-in, November 26 at 2:00 PST.

www.ncwit.org
Sep 18 2012

Aspirations in Computing Awards: apply by October 31, 2012

National Center for Women in Information Technology (NCWIT) Aspirations in Computing Awards recognizes both the accomplishments and potential of bright young women who aspire to careers in technology. Awards are made at both the national level and by local affiliate partners.

National award-winners receive:

  • $500 in cash
  • a laptop computer, provided by Bank of America
  • a trip to attend the Bank of America Technology Showcase and Awards Ceremony in Charlotte, North Carolina
  • an engraved crystal award for both the student and the student’s school

Local award winners attend a local banquet and receive a variety of prizes from sponsors.

Both national and local award winners are eligible for scholarships at a growing number of colleges nation-wide.

But, THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS AWARD WILL BE THE OTHER GIRLS YOU MEET JUST LIKE YOU!

Apply by October 31, 2012. You will select which region you are applying for and automatically be entered to the National Competition.  You will need an endorsement from an adult sponsor who will fill out a support form online by November 9, 2012.

P.S. Poke around on the NCWIT website, there is lots of good stuff on there including a really useful list of resourcesfor girls and parents.

Wonderwoman and Supergirl - image by momarkey on www.deviantart.com.
Jul 14 2012

FabFems mentorships for girls in STEM

Wonderwoman and Supergirl – image by momarkey on http://www.deviantart.com.

Fab Fems is a project that connects girls interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) with women who are professionals in those fields.  Adult mentors are a huge inspiration to young people who are considering their futures and this project makes it easy to connect with women in a variety of fields.

EXCEPT if you are from Oregon and looking for a local mentor. A search on their website revealed only 3 women from Oregon, all of them in Eugene (I suspect they are part of University of Oregon’s awesome Women in Computer Science club). Good for them but we need more!

So, LADIES, you know who you are, race over to the website and register yourself as mentors. Let’s give girls who are looking for local mentors plenty of choices.

While we are waiting for more Fab Fems from Oregon and SW Washington to sign up, you should still check out the site.  How about finding a woman who has a degree from a college you are interested in applying to? Or lives in an area that you hope to go to college someday? You will get a snap shot of each woman when you click on Find a Role Model. Click on a name to get a bio that includes lots of information such as where she went to school, what her interests are and how she can be a resource.

Good luck and, as always, let me know how it goes!

SAOlogo_vert
Apr 23 2012

SAO Education Road Show: The Path to a Career in High Tech (PSU)

The Software Association of Oregon (big supporters of Techstart and the Oregon Game Project Challenge)  is ramping up their outreach to include a new traveling road show specifically designed to answer student questions about working in the High Tech industry.

SAO Education Road Show: The Path to a Career in High Tech (PSU) – Software Association of Oregon.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012
6:00pm-8:00pm
Portland State University, Engineering Building
1930 SW Fourth Avenue
Fourth and College Street
Portland, Oregon 97201

This promises to be informative to students and parents who want to know how to prepare themselves for work in the industry.  It is free and will take place on the PSU campus.

logo
Mar 22 2012

TechStart – Oregon Student Technologist of the Year Award

Here is a scholarship for a high school senior planning to attend an Oregon or Southwest Washington university to study Computer Science or a related field. The Oregon Student Technologist of the Year award includes a $1500 scholarship and a summer internship with the Cambia Health Solutions IT Department (one of the award sponsors), as well as $500 for the student’s school.

Application is due April 20, 2011.

The TechStart education foundation aims to bring technology courses into Oregon’s K-12 classrooms.  Some of their other projects include the Oregon Game Project Challenge and SuperQuest Summer Conferences for Teachers.

IMG_6641
Feb 20 2012

Summer Experience in Science and Engineering for Youth

Oregon State University’s Summer Experience in Science and Engineering for Youth (SESY) is not free, but a 5 night science camp for $200 is one of the best deals you will find out there.  My daughter did this for two years and had a wonderful time. Tuition assistance is available.

SESEY seeks to engage students, especially girls and minorities, in science and engineering by pairing them with graduate students to do lab work, listening to stimulating lectures, and having fun with about 80 other like-minded kids.

Applications are due May 13, 2012 with notification expected to be made on or around June 1.  This year’s camp is from July 15-20.

The camp is sponsored by the College of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering and most of the lab activities are with grad students in this school.  Here are some happy campers with their lab mentor who helped them learn how to grow nano-tubes in a home made oven. Pretty good way to spend a week in summer, don’t you think?

Other highlights include lots of time to socialize with like-minded science geeks, a trip to the coast to visit the Hatfield Marine Science Center and a 5 days living like college students on the lovely Oregon State University campus.

Printable SESEY brochure.

http://wish.aerospacescholars.org/
Jan 23 2012

WISH: Women in STEM High School Aerospace Scholars | For High School Junior Girls

Updated: This post links for WISH 2012 information. To apply for WISH 2013, see this post.

NASA is announcing a unique opportunity for young women who are juniors in high school with an interest in science. WISH: Women in STEM High School Aerospace scholars will become a part of a nation-wide on-line learning community and compete for a chance to spend a summer at the Johnson Space Center working with NASA engineers.

Applications– which include a letter requesting nomination from your State Senator or Representative– will be accepted through February 22nd.  Selections will be made on February 23rd and girls who are chosen to participate in this NASA program will complete a series of distance-learning lessons on past, present and future space explorations.  Approximately 40 girls will be selected from this cohort for a 6 day summer experience at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

The program is free and the lessons– which are aligned to state education standards–are meant to inspire girls to study science, technology and engineering.  The young women will meet and interact with an on-line community of leading female STEM professionals as well as collaborate with girls  from around the country with similar interests in science and technology.

Penelope in a tree

My science girl

Possibly the most exciting thing to me about this opportunity is that my 17 year old daughter found it and sent it to me to share on my blog. She recognized this as an excellent opportunity because she herself has gained so much from her own participation on an on-line community of young women who are interested in computer science.  As a winner of National Center for Women in Information Technology (NCWIT) Aspirations in Computing Award (which I will write more about in the future), she was invited to join a private on-line group of current and past winners from across the nation.  She has bonded with this group and used them for support, for advice, as a sounding board for college applications, and to learn about what kinds of events happen for girls like her around the country.  Having a group to turn to and socialize with — they have occasional meet-ups sponsored by NCWIT–has helped her learn invaluable networking skills that some women take years to acquire.  She was very excited to find this WISH Scholars program, asked me to share it and promised she’d share it too.

WISH: Women in STEM High School Aerospace Scholars | WISH: Women in STEM High School Aerospace Scholars.