Center for Educational Outreach STEM Newsletter
Issue: # 20December 2015/January 2016


Winter is coming. Stay warm this winter with these hot STEM events!
Be sure to check out the side panel of this issue and every issue after for our featured STEM websites.

Enjoy,
The Center for Educational Outreach

 

Upcoming Events
Family Coding
Date: Thursday, January 14, 2016
Time: 6:30PM
Location: Enoch Pratt Library, Southeast Anchor Branch 
3601 Eastern Avenue Baltimore, MD 21224
What: Come learn basic coding skills as a family! The family that codes together has fun learning about computational thinking and working as a team!

For infomation about more STEM events occuring at the Enoch Pratt Libraries, visit their website.
A Tale of Two Planets
Date:
January 21, 2016
Registration Opens: December 21, 2015
Time: 6:45PM (Doors open at 6:00PM)
Location: Carnegie Institution for Science
1530 P St., NW
Washington,20005
What:
"Dr. Pamela Conrad - A Tale of Two (Cities) Planets: What Earth and Mars are teaching us about the evolution of habitable worlds"
Curiosity rover has been exploring Mars for more than three years, measuring the past and present habitability potential of our nearest planetary neighbor. We've also been busy on Earth, exploring the harshest environments we could find on this planet, not only to help us understand what makes them habitable, but also how to measure it. Dr. Conrad will tell us about what we've learned on and from both planets about the evolution and decline of habitable environments.

For more information and to register, visit the event website.
Hopkins Robotics Cup
Date: January 30, 2016
 Location: Johns Hopkins University, Newton-White Athletic Center
What: Come watch as Baltimore City Public Schools VEX Robotics teams participate in this tournament. Middle School and High School teams go head to head to win the Hopkins Robotics Cup! The winner of this competition will be the VEX Robotics City Champion!
 
Women in Engineering (WIE) DREAM Conference
Date: Saturday, February 27, 2016
Time: 9:00 am - 2:30 pm
Location: Adele H. Stamp Student Union
 University of Maryland, College Park
What: Diversity inspires creativity, which in turn drives innovation. At the University of Maryland, efforts like the WIE DREAM Conference targeted to high school girls are having a real impact. Twenty-seven percent of the Clark School's fall 2015 first-year students are women. Our conference encourages participants to be inquisitive, to hone problem-solving skills, and to invent solutions for real-world problems. It is a tremendous opportunity and powerful impetus for young women considering engineering studies and careers.

Register here for students, here for adults, and here for volunteers. For more information, visit the DREAM conference website.
Programs
THINK Scholars Program
Deadline: January 1, 2016
Grade: 9-12
THINK stands for Technology for Humanity guided by Innovation, Networking, and Knowledge. The vision of THINK is to make science and technology research and development accessible to all motivated high school students. The THINK Scholars Program is an educational outreach initiative that promotes science, technology, engineering, and mathematics by supporting and funding projects developed by high school students. The program is run by a team of undergraduate students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and sponsored by technology companies and educational organizations.
The THINK team will provide funding and extensive support to selected student projects. Some of the key benefits include: 
Funding, 
Mentorship, 
Networking, & 
Experience
For the 2016 program, we will be selecting six Finalists and invite them to MIT. After the trip, three of the Finalists will be notified to be Winners, where they will receive funding and mentorship to build their project. When projects are completed, one individual/team will be designated the "Grand Prize Winner".

For more information about the competition, visit the THINK program website.
Engineering Innovation Summer 2016

Application Available: February 1, 2016

The application for the Summer 2016 Engineering Innovation (EI) program will be available beginning February 1, 2016. EI is an exciting, hands-on summer course for high school students interested in engineering. Over four or five weeks (depending upon the site) students complete lab activities in computer engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, material science, civil engineering, robotics, and mechanical engineering. They also prepare a presentation in response to a Request for Proposal, learn about engineering economics, write a research paper, take weekly quizzes, and complete a comprehensive take-home final exam.

Students who earn an A or B grade in the course are awarded 3 credits from Johns Hopkins University.

This program is offered at the JHU Homewood campus in Baltimore, MD, JHU Montgomery County in Rockville, MD, JHU Elkridge in Elkridge, MD, Tuscarora High School in Frederick, MD, Hood College in Frederick, MD, University of DC in Washington, D.C,  and other locations across the country, including California, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

For more information, visit the Engineering Innovation website.

Competitions
Puzzles, Pizza, and Prizes
The North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad (NACLO) is a competition for students in grades 6-12, focused on solving linguistic puzzles. 
Come learn about computational linguistics (and how it's used in cool research at major tech companies) at Puzzles, Pizza, and Prizes
When: Saturday, January 9, 2016, 
Time:10 am - 12:30 pm 
Where: Center of Excellence, 810 Wyman Park Dr (Stieff Building), Baltimore, MD 21211
Students will learn new ways to solve problems and puzzles, work together with other students, and earn prizes. Anyone is welcome to come to the practice session even if they can't make it to the competition! 

Interested in competing? The first round competition is scheduled for Thursday, January 28, 2016, 10 am - 1 pm.
Registration Deadline: Jan. 14, 2016
 
Send an email to RSVP for the January 9th event. For more details, visit the NACLO website.
Tower of Power
Location: Johns Hopkins University - Homewood Campus
Grade: 6-8
Participation Deadline: January 22, 2016
Entry Deadline: February 8, 2016
What: Join Johns Hopkins University's Whiting School of Engineering in celebrating National Engineers Week (February 21-27, 2016) by building a tower from spaghetti and marshmallows. The middle school team that builds the tallest freestanding tower wins and will be invited to recreate their winning tower at the JHU Tower of Power event!

Notify Diamond Pollard if you intend to participate by January 22, 2016. For more information, visit the Tower of Power page on the CEO Website.
Exploravision
Deadline: February 1, 2016
Grade: K-12
The ExploraVision competition for K-12 students engages the next generation in real world problem solving with a strong emphasis on STEM. 
ExploraVision is a science competition that goes beyond the typical student science competition and into what it takes to bring ideas to reality. A teacher will sponsor and lead his/her students as they work in groups of 2 - 4 to simulate real research and development. A teacher will guide his or her students as they pick a current technology, research it, envision what it might look like in 20 years, and describe the development steps, pros & cons, and obstacles.

For more information or to registration, visit the Exploravison website 
EngineerGirl - 2016 Essay Contest
Deadline: February 1, 2016
Grade: 3-12
Every year, EngineerGirl sponsors a contest dealing with engineering and its impact on our world. Girls and boys of all grade levels are eligible to enter. First place winners in each grade category receive $500. 
For more infomation concerning the essay topic, word length, and other details,  visit the EngineerGirl website.

Have a happy holiday season and we hope to see you at some of these events!

Sincerely,

 

Margaret Hart
Center for Educational Outreach
Who We Are
The Center for Educational Outreach is part of the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Our mission is to inspire and prepare youth, particularly those underrepresented in STEM, to pursue STEM education and careers.
In This Issue
Family Coding
A Tale of Two Planets
Hopkins Robotics Cup
Women in Engineering DREAM Conference
THINK Scholars Program
Exploravision
EngineerGirl - 2016 Essay Contest
Featured Websites
 
SciJinks (K-8)

STEM Works (All)

Quick Links
Check out more local organizations for other possible STEM opportunities!