Rice a hub for Engineers Week

Participants in the first S-STEM Capacity Building Workshop pause for a photo at the BioScience Research Collaborative. Photo by Zehra Naqvi

The George R. Brown School of Engineering welcomed 42 participants to the first in a series of S-STEM Capacity Building Workshops Feb. 20-21. The participants, primarily faculty members from institutions in 17 states, learned to improve the competitiveness of their proposals for scholarships in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

“S-STEM seeks to provide scholarships and other services that are proven to foster success for low-income students in designated STEM fields,” said Yvette Pearson Weatherton, the school’s associate dean for accreditation and assessment, who obtained a three-year National Science Foundation grant for the program. “One of my hopes is that we’ll develop relationships with many of the institutions so that the students who excel in their programs will consider Rice somewhere along their higher education pathways.”

On Feb. 22, the school celebrated Engineers Week with an “Engineer Big, Dream Big, Lead Big” event for 45 seventh-graders and their teachers from five area schools. The school engaged them in design challenges that taught engineering problem-solving with an emphasis on teamwork.

Youngsters work through a challenge during the “Engineer Big, Dream Big, Lead Big” event at Duncan Hall during Engineers Week. Photo by Donald Soward