MassBioEd to Host Life Sciences Webinar, 10/28/14

On Tuesday, October 28, from 3:30 - 4:30pm, MassBioEd will host a webinar focused on aligning and meeting expectations between community college and life sciences companies.  This event is designed primarly for company HR leaders and hiring managers; community college faculty and administrators; and workforce development leaders. Speakers include: Matt Sigelman, CEO, Burning Glass Technoogies, Lance Hartford, Executive Director, MassBioEd Foundation, and Russ Read, Executive Director, Forsyth College. For more information and to register, please visit: http://www.massbio.org/events/calendar/2943-aligning_and_meeting_expectations_between/event_detail. For questions contact: Lance Hartford at .

Future City Competition

Future City is a team-based transformative education program designed for 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade students in which students imagine and design cities of the future and explain the underlying technologies and design principles that would make their city possible.  For more information, please visit: http://futurecity.org/new-england.  To register, visit: http://futurecity.org/register

AMP it up! Challenge

The AMP it up! Challenge invites students to research an advanced manufacturing innovation, and, from their research, create a 3-minute video that explains how it’s made and why it matters. Details can be found at:  www.ampitupma.com/challenge.  There will be eleven winners overall.  One middle school and high school from all five regions in the state will each win $2,500 in grant funding.  And one video will take the grand prize of $5,000.

Skilled Careers in Life Sciences Initative

The SCILS Initiative is a 4 year $5 million project led by the Boston Office of Jobs and Community Services (JCS) on behalf of the Metro Boston region. Funded in April 2012 by an H1B Technical Skills Training grant from the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor, the SCILS Initiative will improve career opportunities for residents of the Greater Boston area and provide a more highly trained life science workforce for our healthcare and biotechnology sectors. The Initiative will target occupations such as Biological Technicians and Medical Lab Technicians and support occupational training, contextualized learning, customized training, program development and the recruitment, case management and placement of eligible participants. Visit the SCILS website to find out more about the initiative and training opportunities to begin a career as a Biological Technician or Medical Lab Technician!

Metro North "Bridging the Workforce Gap" STEM event a great success (July, 2013)

Over eighty education, training, and workforce development professionals attended a unique event this past June, entitled "Bridging the Workforce Gap: In-Demand Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Occupations in the Metro North Region."  Presented by the Metro North Regional Employment Board (REB), and held at the Microsoft New England Research and Development Center in Cambridge, MA, the event was designed for professionals who are interested in learning more about the viable local STEM opportunities that are available to their customers and students. The event focused on eight (8) occupations, all of which are both locally in-demand and offer opportunities for workers to develop skillsets that correspond to career pathways within a specific Metro North priority industry. Through a combination of videos and interactive discussion, the event highlighted the following careers:Computer Support Specialist and Software Developer (IT); Biomedical Technician and Quality Control Technician (Life Sciences); Clinical Lab Assistant and Medical Lab Technician (Healthcare); and CNC Operator and Mechanical Engineer (Advanced Manufacturing).

In addition, four brief videos were created specifically for the event are now available on the website www.drkit.com.  Each video features professionals in one of four separate in-demand STEM occupations explaining various aspects of their jobs, including: a typical day, required qualifications, and the "best/worst" aspects of the job.  To view these videos, please click on the following links:

Speakers included: Reed Brockman, Chair of the Metro North Youth Council, Member of the Metro North REB, and Senior Structural Engineer/Coordinating Inspection Team Leader for AECOM; Joanna Dowling, Chair of the Metro North REB and Director of Operations, Custom Group, Inc.; Pat Hogan, Professor at Suffolk University and Member of the Metro North STEM Partnership; and Meelynn Wong, Associate Director, Metro North REB.

Next generation science standards released

(Originally published in U.S. News & World Report, April 15, 2013)

By Kelsey Sheehy -- Science education in the United States is not up to snuff.  Most high schoolstudents can scratch the scientific surface – follow instructions, conduct experiments – but few succeed at analysis and explanation, two critical components of real-world inquiry, studies reveal. The Next Generation Science Standards aim to change all that. Released last week, the standards follow in the footsteps of the Common Core State Standards for math and reading by setting a uniform benchmark and encouraging depth over breadth in science curriculums. [Read more....]

White House seeks nominations for 2014 presidential award

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science Foundation seek nominations of individuals and organizations that have demonstrated at least five years of excellence in mentoring students, trainees, and/or early career scientists and engineers from groups that are underrepresented in STEM, including women, people with disabilities, underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities, as well as individuals from low socio-economic backgrounds and some geographic regions (such as urban and rural regions). Awardees of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Metntoring (PAESMEM) will receive a $10,000 honorary Presidential award and are invited to participate in recognition events and meetings with STEM policy leaders in Washington, D.C. For more information visit: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf13044

U.S. Department of Energy has launched a new online feature, Women @ Energy

 Women @ Energy, showcases a few of the talented and dedicated employees at the U.S. Department of Engergy who are helping change the world, ensuring America’s security and prosperity through transformative science and technology solutions. The feature enables you to view profiles of women across the country, read about what inspired them to work in STEM and what excites them about their work at the Energy Department, share ideas for getting more underrepresented groups engaged in STEM, offering tips, and more. For more information please visit: http://energy.gov/diversity/listings/women-energy

Massachusetts' "WOW" Initiative

As part of the 8th Annual Massachusetts STEM Summit, Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray announced the launch of the “WOW Initiative”, a statewide public awareness campaign designed to engage, educate and “wow” Massachusetts students into realizing the opportunities in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers. As part of the project, Massachusetts schools will receive a series of videos highting various opportunities, as well as individuals who are applying their STEM skills, such as Boston Red Sox statistician Bill James, Harmonix Music Systems video game designer Jim Toepel and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute’s ocean researcher Amy Kukulya. This video introduces the WOWsters.

Major report on manufacturing in Massachusetts released

“Staying Power II: A Report Card on Manufacturing in Massachusetts 2012" is an update of a 2008 study that onveys positive news about the resiliency of the state’s sector.

Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair seeks judges, mentors, advocates, students

The Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair, Inc. (MSSEF) is a non-profit organization committed to increasing awareness of, exposure to, and participation in inquiry-based learning through the development of science and engineering projects by middle school and high school students.  Through its Curious Minds Initiative, MSSEF offers graduate courses for teachers leading to the STEM Certificate in Inquiry at Framingham State University.

Ways to get involved:

1. Be a science fair judge. Opportunities exist at the middle and high school levels and for statewide,  regional, and school district fairs.

2. Mentor science fair students and science teachers.

3. Help develop a science fair program in a school.

4. Become a STEM education advocate. Promote the need for students to choose STEM education and careers.

5. Enter your students in a fair! Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fairs are open to students in grades 6-12 from all public, private and parochial schools throughout the state.

For additional information please visit: www.massscifair.com, or email .