incredibleminds career exploration laboratory

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Career Exploration In An Advanced Technology Emporium

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Todd Borghesani, Esq.

[email protected]

703.629.8535

AGENDA• Objective

• Need

• Opportunity

• Solution

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2008 Copyright © by T. Borghesani

OBJECTIVE

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In Demand STEM Careers

Aerospace EngineeringBehavioral Sciences BiosciencesChemical EngineeringChemistryCivil EngineeringClinical MedicineCognitive & NeuralComputer ScienceComputational SciencesEcology & EnvironmentElectrical EngineeringGeosciencesImmunologyMaterials ScienceMathematicsMechanical EngineeringMicrobiologyMolecular Biology & GeneticsNaval ArchitectureOcean EngineeringNanotechnologyNeuroscienceOceanographyPharmacologyPlant & Animal SciencePhysicsSpace & Planetary Sciences


BRIDGE THE DIVIDE

• Offer at-risk youth a 21st century environment to explore “in demand” careers

• Inspire and prepare at-risk youth to achieve a post secondary education in STEM disciplines

• Give them 21st century skills so they can transition into independent adulthood and be successful in the STEM workforce of the future

• Design a career exploration system where youth role play "professional" scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians (STEM), constructing their own careers and futures

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NEED

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OUR NATION

• Our way of life is threatened. We are in danger of falling behind in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education

• These disciplines have powered American prosperity for decades

• The decline in the state of our competitiveness and innovation in the global marketplace

• The low performance of our nation’s middle school and high school students in math and science as compared to their peers in other developed countries

• The shortage of native-born computer scientists and engineers that has led to an increasing need to import talent from foreign countries

• "Eighty percent of the fastest growing jobs require education and training beyond high school...” Assistant Secretary DeRocca

• From DC public schools, only 9% of the students who go to college graduate.

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OUR COMMUNITY

• Teachers can only be expected to accomplish so much during the “school day”

• Unfunded mandates and high stakes testing will continue to hamper the adoption of innovative learning in schools

• There is not enough time during the day to teach career development

• The sophistication of how we teach must evolve with the needs of the workforce

• We need to embrace alternative venues of learning using a systems approach: people, process, technology and environment

• We need community places that foster learning, innovation and knowledge transfer

• Practicing scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians to teach advanced technologies as coaches and mentors

• Today, there is a disconnect between learning research and learning places

• We ask our youth to become the 21st century workforce of the future, yet we teach them in turn of the century (20th) places

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OPPORTUNITY

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GAMER GENERATION

• 90 million gamers in the United States• Gamer generation will dominate the workforce. It is already larger than the baby

boom

• Already 5 out of 10 Americans, 145 million, play video games. 39% are women

• 21st century skills that employers want• All the hours immersed in game culture have created masses of employees with

unique attributes: bold but measured risk taking, amazing ability to multitask, and unexpected leadership skills.

• Only 3% of elementary school students say they do not play video games of any kind

• More than half of K-12 students believe that educational video games in school would help them better understand difficult concepts (a career?), become more engaged in the subject matter and practice skills.

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• Leverage billions of dollars worth of creativity to the advantage of K12 education

• What if we could apply commercial games and modeling and simulation applications help narrow the achievement gap?

• Video game, modeling and simulation technologies• Learning key technologies in commercial video games--3D Engines, GUI,

Physical Models, Networking, Persistence, and Artificial Intelligence--offer a unique foundation

• Learning how to build video games sets the stage for learning how to work with M&S applications

• Every industry vertical and every scientific discipline uses modeling & simulation tools

• The modeling and simulation industry is a $5 billion, cross-cutting industry

• Video game, modeling & simulation technologies support STEM education

• Use in the Career Exploration Program has “in-school” implications for STEM education

TECHNICAL SYNERGIES

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• Afterschool market • Offers creative environment to advance learning and workforce development

• Just 6.5 million children are in afterschool programs

• The parents of another 15.3 million children say their children would participate in afterschool—if a program were available Afterschool Association

• There is no afterschool program for advanced career exploration

• For profit model is Sylvan Learning Centers• With over 200 locations, annual revenue exceeds $240 million for teaching the

basics

• Inner cities remain a significant untapped retail market • Unmet demand is estimated to be over $40 billion

• To put this in perspective, the $40+ billion inner city retail gap is larger than the total retail markets of twenty-six states Initiative for a Competitive Inner City

• Not only is the future consumer in the US increasingly non-white, but the non-white consumer globally, is exploding Carl Stern, Vice Chairman, Boston Consulting Group

SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATION

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SOLUTION

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• Blend commercial video games with modeling & simulation technologies

• Commercial video games offer motivational insight across numerous industries and careers

• We introduce youth to "in-demand" industries and careers while they learn how to build video games

• They play "professional" roles, learning 21st century skills and building critical background knowledge

• They work in teams on "real world" challenges that are germane to an industry and its careers, solving problems by “constructing” answers as active agents.

• They use the authentic tools of the trade: modeling & simulation tools

• Mentoring & coaching support the teams

• Based on RPGs where a taste for chaos and a collaborative spirit will continue to define the entertainment of the future.

CAREER EXPLORATION

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AEROSPACE CAREER TRACK

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Bridging The Future of Learning With The Needs of Industry


CAREER EXPLORATION

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Sample Game Library Represents Over $300 Million In Development


TECHNOLOGY EMPORIUM• Harmonize people, process and technology

• The cornerstone of this program is a "real world" laboratory with a "library" of video games advanced simulation and modeling applications

• The emporium’s environment is built from design patterns for 21st century learning

• The environments of “Laboratory” and “social cafe” are blended

• Design 21st century learning interior into existing structure in DC’s inner city

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BECOME YOUR DREAM

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Imagine 100 incredible minds thinking together


incredibleminds career exploration laboratory

Education

play video

risk youth

real world

modeling amp

learning

teach

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workforce