September 2012 Newsletter
   
9th and 10th graders attending public high school in Boston, Cambridge or Lawrence are invited to apply for the Saturday Engineering Enrichment and Discovery (SEED) Academy.
 
   
Middle school students who have participated in our STEM or MSBP programs are invited to apply to work with MIT student mentors on Saturdays during the academic year. Interested MIT students may apply to be mentors.

We want to know what you are up to these days. Please take a few moments to fill out a short web form and let us know how you are doing.
 
 
The amount of funding that we are able to secure each year has a direct impact on the number of students who we are able to serve, free of charge. Please consider a donation of any size! 
Hello!
 
I am excited to share the Office of Engineering Outreach Programs' first e-newsletter with you. We had a busy summer serving over 400 students free of charge.

Through our national outreach programs, 260 students from 42 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico took part in a range of engaging science and engineering experiences on MIT campus this summer. They participated in our six-week Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science (MITES) program, one-week Engineering Experience at MIT (E2@MIT) program, and one-week MIT Online Science, Technology and Engineering Community (MOSTEC) conference.

Students from MIT's surrounding communities joined us this summer as well. 86 middle school students from Boston, Cambridge and Lawrence took part in our Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Program, 32 middle school boys from Boston and Cambridge participated in our MIT Science of Baseball (MSBP) program, and 18 middle and high school students from Boston and Cambridge honed their math skills in our Confronting Obstacles and Realizing Excellence (CORE) program.

We are excited to leverage this new platform to share some news from this summer. Please let us know what you think, and we look forward to updating you on our academic year programs in November.

Thank you for your continued support!

Sincerely,
Shawna Young
Executive Director
Office of Engineering Outreach Programs
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 
MITES alumni reunite for mixer


 
On July 14, alumni representing nearly two decades of Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science (MITES) students returned to MIT for the first MITES Alumni Mixer. The alumni shared their stories with the current class of rising high school seniors in a panel discussion and networking session. The current MITES students gained valuable career advice, developed networking skills, and saw firsthand the impact of the MITES program beyond the six-week summer session.

 

Boston mayor, MIT president join MIT Science of Baseball students at Fenway Park



Mayor Thomas Menino and newly elected MIT President Rafael Reif joined ten MIT Science of Baseball (MSBP) students on the field at Fenway Park prior to the Red Sox/Yankees game on July 7. Before greeting Menino and Reif, the ten boys who attend public school in the Boston and Cambridge were announced over the PA system as they walked onto the field. The students also participated in a number of baseball-related science activities facilitated by the Cambridge Science Festival.
MIT Online Science, Technology and Engineering Community (MOSTEC) expands

OEOP's only online program, launched in 2011, expanded to serve nearly 80% more students this year and included five new collaborative projects. The 115 students of the MIT Online Science, Technology and Engineering Community (MOSTEC) worked on projects in aeronautics and astronautics, astrophysics, combinatorics, neuroscience and connectomics, and robotics and computer science. 41 of those students also enrolled in the Science Writing elective, in which alumni of MIT's graduate program in science writing demonstrated how to communicate scientific ideas to the general public. 101 MOSTEC students traveled to MIT from across the country for the MOSTEC Conference, held August 6 to 11, where they demonstrated their projects and participated in a number of other enrichment activities on campus and across Cambridge. The MOSTEC students continue their online experience, with an added focus on college admissions mentoring, through January.
Local students strengthen math skills while testing video game
 
19 rising eighth, ninth and tenth graders in the Confronting Obstacles and Realizing Excellence (CORE) Program strengthened their math skills while testing a video game from August 13 to 17. The experience was a collaborative effort between CORE and Education Arcade, an MIT group that explores games that promote learning through authentic and engaging play. Education Content Manager Dr. Susannah Gordon-Messer and Research Associate Louisa Rosenheck of the MIT Scheller Teacher Education Program presented early prototypes of the video game, and the students -- all from Boston and Cambridge -- developed ideas and art for the game while building confidence in their fundamental math skills, which are critical for success in science and engineering fields.