educat ion depar tment news | donald dunn

STEM EducationCoalition Programs

At a recent 2010 Engi-neering, Science, andTechnology Council ofHoustonAnnualAwardsBanquet, a number of

students were recognized as winnersof the annual science fair. In additionto winning the accolades associatedwith the fair, these students are fundedas summer interns at a local museumof natural science. These summer in-terns are supported by the varioustechnical societies in the Houston area.The local IEEE organization unit hasbeen a long-time supporter of theannual science fair and the summerintern program as a K–12 initiative tosupport science, technology, engineer-ing, and mathematics (STEM) pro-grams within our school systems.

Another volunteer activity withinthe STEM programs sponsored by theIEEE is the ongoing Teacher In-Serv-ice Program (TISP), which featuresIEEE Section volunteers developingand presenting technologically ori-ented subject matter to local preuni-versity educators in an in-service or

professional development setting. Thisprogram has morphed into local IEEESections around the globe workingwith educators in their respective areasto facilitate education in STEM withinthe school systems.

TISP allows IEEE volunteers toshare their technical expertise anddemonstrate the application of engi-neering concepts to support theteaching and learning of science, math-ematics, and technology disciplines.The focus of IEEE TISP is on localschools and school districts, with akey feature of this program beingengineers and educators developinglong-lasting collaborations.

The STEM Education Coalitionworks to support STEM programs forteachers and students at the U.S.Department of Education, theNationalScience Foundation, and other profes-sional organizations that offer STEM-related programs. The STEM Educa-tion Coalition is composed of advocatesfrom more than 40 diverse groups (oneof which is the IEEE) representing allsectors of the technological workforce,from knowledge workers to educators,scientists, engineers, and technicians.

If you are interested in K–12 edu-cation in your local school district,starting an IEEE TISP group withinyour local Section or supporting otherK–12 activities, the following resour-ces may be of interest.

For more information on math/science teacher training:

n IEEE TISP: http://www.ieee.org/web/education/preuniversity/tispt/index.html

n UTeach Program: www.uteach.utexas.edu

n CaliforniaTeach: www.university-ofcalifornia.edu/academics/1000teachers

n Newton Fellowship: www.mathforamerica.org.

For more information on encourag-ing K–12 students:

n ASEE Engineering K–12 Cen-ter: http://engineeringk12.org

n International Council of Aca-demies of Engineering andTechnological Societies: www.caets.org

n Maryland Business Round Tablefor Education: www.mbrt.org/achievem.htm.

IASDigital Object Identifier 10.1109/MIAS.2010.937670

conference news(continued from p. 66)

are listed in the “Society News” columnin this issue (p. 68).

The I&CPS Department Achieve-ment Award was also presented at theawards luncheon. This year’s recipi-ent was Peter Sutherland, who wasrecognized for his outstanding leader-ship of the Power System Engineer-ing Committee.

I&CPS 2011 will be held 1–5May in Newport Beach, California,with Bob Schuerger as the confer-ence chair.

2010 Rural ElectricPower ConferenceThe Rural Electric Power Conference(REPC) was held in Orlando in mid-

May. A conference report was notavailable at press time. The 2011REPC will be held 10–13 April2011 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.The general chair of the conferencewill be Rhonda Whitaker-Hamm.Watch the REPC Web site for moredetails.

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