First Annual Plus+STEM Symposium Held at Northwest Vista College

Student Group on their Way to Becoming Future Scientists

在7月28日举行的第一届Plus+STEM研讨会上，西北远景大学Plus+STEM项目的首批学生小组因实习获得认可. 这些学生还完成了NVC的暑期工作坊，并在今年夏天通过在统计学方面的实践成为未来的科学家, chemistry and engineering.

The celebration included student speeches, certificate awards, 还有海报展示，解释每个学生的研究和暑期实习的成果.

“This has been an amazing experience,” said NVC student Moamel Kassem, who interned at Terracon Consultants, 公司. 卡西姆在一次偶然的机会上了一门科学课后，对雷思的STEM产生了兴趣.”

Along with Terracon Consultants, 公司.在美国，其他参加实习的组织包括德克萨斯大学体育学院&M University–San Antonio, The University of Texas at San Antonio, The University of the 公司arnate Word, Northwest Vista College, and Wanke Elementary.

西北远景大学+STEM项目(引导本科生在科学方面取得成功的门户), Technology, Engineering & Math), was created by NVC faculty members Dr. Prakash Nair，项目总监/首席研究员，联合首席研究员. Claudia Verdin and Dr. Thomas Pressly.

2021年，Plus+STEM项目获得了500万美元的资助，这是雷思公司迄今为止最大的一笔资助.S. Education Department’s Hispanic Serving Institutions-Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics and Articulation Programs (HSI-STEM). HSI-STEM项目旨在增加西班牙裔和低收入家庭学生在STEM领域获得学位的人数, 同时与两年制和四年制大学签订转学协议.

In addition to the workshops this summer, students will benefit from the Plus+STEM Project through tutoring, paid research internships, research internships with stipends of up to $4,200, advanced STEM equipment, mentoring, symposiums, mental health support and high school outreach.

Summer Workshops

In the engineering sessions on Rapid Prototyping, NVC教授Mark Jurena和Pressly向学生们介绍了扭转和弯曲中的应力/应变理论以及抛物运动的物理学.

学生们分析和测量了初始3D打印弹射器设计的尺寸，并测量了扔出的皱巴巴的纸张的范围. 然后，学生使用CAD(计算机辅助设计)软件根据提出的理论对设计进行修改. 

“在雷士STEAM创客空间的帮助下，更新的3D模型是3D打印的. 然后，学生们使用STEAM创客空间对他们的设计进行清洗和后期处理，然后重新测量范围,” said Pressly. “大多数学生组都能在投掷范围上取得20-100%的进步.”

The chemistry sessions conducted by Dr. Simon van Dijk的设计是为了让学生亲身体验化学中重要的基本概念. Students performed experiments related to measurements and density, concentrations and dilutions, and synthesis of an organic compound. 每次会议都讨论和加强安全的重要性. 

“Students worked on a project where they made a boat out of foam board, 用数学方法计算出将船沉入水中所需的便士数, 然后通过在船上加硬币让船下沉来验证这一点,” said Nair.

“学生们非常喜欢使用不同玻璃器皿和一些安全化学品的实践经验,” added Nair.

According to Verdin, 工作坊挑战学生，让他们接触到解决问题的课程，NVC教授Manuel Escobar参与批判性思维和解决问题. 学生们解决了代数、几何和三角的应用问题.

During the statistics workshops, conducted by NVC Professor Javier Guerra, students were introduced to the measures of center, measures of variation, essentials of probability, normal distribution, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing to prepare for research, thesis or dissertation in the future.

Contact:
Lisa McDaniel
Strategic Communications Coordinator
电子邮件: nvc-news@hzjly.net