Educators at Stennis Space Center recently hosted 38 community college students for a three-day workshop focused on promoting STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education.
Stennis and other NASA center education specialists conducted the May 17-19 workshop at INFINITY Science Center. Participants were community college students interested in pursuing a NASA-related STEM career. Students achieved a 70 percent or higher score on an online NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars Program session to qualify for the workshop.
Once at Stennis, students worked in teams to create a fictitious company competing to win a NASA contract for the next Mars mission. Students worked side-by-side with mentor-engineers to compete in an engineering design challenge to build, program and operate a LEGO® MINDSTORMSTM NXT robot. Teams also developed a presentation to showcase the team’s work and to keep in contact by social media.
A special workshop presentation was provided by Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise, a Biloxi native. Several NASA engineers and a former intern spoke to students to motivate and encourage them to pursue STEM-related careers.
Valerie Buckingham
Stennis Space Center
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