DTRA Mentors Next Generation of DoD Scientists

Courtesy Photo | The Defense Threat Reduction Agency's Joint Science & Technology Institute allowed students and mentors to explore engineering, computer science, robotics and chemistry fields.  

FORT BELVOIR, VA, UNITED STATES

08.16.2016

Courtesy Story

Defense Threat Reduction Agency's Chemical and Biological Technologies Department

Currently, the United States ranks 29th in math and 22nd in science among industrialized nations. Since the children of today are the future of tomorrow, U.S. leaders are placing an emphasis on getting high school-aged children involved in the science, technology, engineering and mathematic (STEM) fields.

Supporting the government’s initiative, members of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Joint Science and Technology Office are mentoring high school students in a variety of projects to garner interest in STEM to develop the next generation of DoD scientists.

For the fourth consecutive year, JSTO members took STEM education to the next level at their annual Joint Science and Technology Institute held in Aberdeen, Md., from July 25 to August 5. The program combined student education and teacher development into a two-week STEM-intensive camp. The coveted camp drew 84 high school and junior high school students and eight teachers from more than 1,000 applicants.

Students and teachers travelled from DoD schools all over the world, representing seven countries, including American Samoa, Italy, South Korea, Ukraine and the United States. Twenty states were represented as well, from Arizona to Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Participants spent their two weeks experimenting with the latest technologies; 3D printers, drones, Raspberry Pi, robotics and chemistry. These hands-on activities allowed our next generation of scientists to explore several STEM fields while working with leading DoD scientists and researchers.

Supporting STEM activities is one way DTRA’s JSTO is helping to grow the next generation of scientists, making the world safer and empowering the youth of today to develop the technologies of tomorrow.

• Date Taken: 08.16.2016
• Date Posted: 08.16.2016 12:07
• Story ID: 207264
• Location: FORT BELVOIR, VA, US