Local Teachers Get Excited about STEM Education

A grant through the Department of Education (EquiPD) is in its second year and boosts UF Innovation Station’s efforts to grow the pipeline of K-12 students to engineering by expanding the pool of STEM-qualified teachers. In addition to the 55 Sarasota/Manatee teachers who signed on to participate, teachers outside the grant are also getting support. Both groups were invited to Gainesville for the first EquiPD Day in January where they learned technology, model concept development, inquiry and engineering design. In March when schools started to transition to remote learning, EquIPD held a series of webinars open to all Florida educators to learn about remote teaching and learning with session topics that included ZOOM, Google Classroom, Connecting with Parents, Flipgrid and literacy and online e-portfolios. Teachers and parents looking for remote learning resources can find a comprehensive list here.

Industry Outreach: Building a Talent Pipeline through Internships

Internships provide local students with a reason to return to the Sarasota region.  Since its launch in 2016, UFIS has coordinated the placement of almost 140 UF engineering students into meaningful summer internships with over 55 companies in computer science/computer engineering, civil, electrical, mechanical, industrial, and environmental engineering. Companies benefit by having access to the best and the brightest young talent — statistics show students who intern with a company are more likely to receive a full-time offer of employment and return to the area after graduation.

Thanks to these industry partners and the Gulf Coast Community Foundation who has provided grants to over 40 interns for exposing students to local internship opportunities and providing incentives for them to return to the Sarasota region.  If you would like more information on how to participate in the UFIS internship program, please contact Ann Marie Chupa at amchupa@eng.ufl.edu.

Girls Engaged in Engineering 2020

To grow and diversify the pipeline of students interested in engineering, over 100 middle school girls visited labs, engaged in hands-on activities with UF faculty and students and toured campus during this year’s Girls Engaged in Engineering event. Venice Middle, Heron Creek Middle and Woodland Middle students spent the day with UF faculty and UF students learning about engineering concepts and disciplines. Read More