Partners sought for Army STEM programs

Welcome to 2016, readers! In addition to managing this network, Battelle is the lead organization in a project with the U.S. Army: the Army Educational Outreach Program or AEOP for short.

We chat with Battelle's David Burns about a opportunity through the Army Educational Outreach Program
We chat with Battelle’s David Burns about an opportunity through the Army Educational Outreach Program

Later this year, that project will make awards of up to $50,000 to partnering organizations to increase participation in the programs particularly by underserved and underrepresented students. Before taking applications, Battelle’s looking to compile a list of potential partners. This process is formally called a Request for Information or RFI.

The RFI is short (just 12 questions long) but due quickly. All responses need to be in by January 16, 2016. Here’s the form.

David Burns leads the team at Battelle on this program, and we caught him to answer a few questions about AEOP itself and how to get involved.

Hi David, what is the Army Educational Outreach Program?
Put simply, AEOP is how the Army connects with young people interested in STEM. It’s also their way of building a stronger American workforce; one that’s ready to meet the demands of a fast-paced, technology-driven world. Under that broad goal, AEOP includes a wide variety of programs. AEOP projects include everything from an electric car competition called Junior Solar Sprint to a training that takes teachers inside of U.S. Army laboratories for research experiences.

This network has long been connected to the work. For example, AEOP funds the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium. At the symposium, students compete for scholarships and recognition by presenting the original research to a panel of judges and an audience of their peers. The Ohio STEM Learning Network’s Northwest Hub, the NWO STEM Center at Bowling Green State University, hosts the Ohio statewide competition for the the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium. In fact, registration for that particular program is open now until February 21.

How can people get involved?
If you represent an organization or technical association that’s focused on STEM, specifically serving students from underserved populations and military dependents, please complete the Request for Information. Completing this means that later in 2016, when we issue a full request for proposals, you may have the opportunity to participate.

If you’re a teacher, student or someone else interested in participating in an existing program, just provide your email address here. We’ll share that with our partners in the AEOP consortium.

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