STEM Summit held in Pittsburgh brings innovation in 7-minute bursts

STEM Summit held in Pittsburgh

ASSET, which helps school districts throughout the state implement programs for teaching STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects within any type of class, is co-sponsoring the Pittsburgh STEM Summit this year for the first time. Because the summit was instituted by the Pittsburgh Technology Council, ASSET Executive Director Cynthia Pulkowski believes it’s a good move for her educational nonprofit.

“We think it’s important to get behind organizations like the Tech Council and their work” in developing ways to share tools and promising practices in STEM-focused learning.

Bringing innovators together

The idea behind the Summit is to bring together school districts with businesses, nonprofits and other groups working to make sure local students are ready for college and careers. “Business is such a big stakeholder in the programs school districts are developing for career readiness,” Pulkowski notes.

Line-up for 7-minute presentations

This year’s event on Aug. 15 includes two keynote speakers and 14 very quick presentations – all seven minutes long – followed by Q&As, along with opportunities for participants to get to know other local organizations and their leaders.

The morning keynote speaker is Gil Taran, CEO of iCarnegie, a Carnegie Mellon University company that creates new educational and workforce development programs. The afternoon program features Mario Livio, a senior astrophysicist at the Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute and author of multiple books, including most recently Is God A Mathematician?

The brief presentations include:

  • Spooktacular STEAM with Specter Studios, about the Adventures in Technology program, which immerses students in tech business issues
  • Arts & Bots, from The Ellis School, about their use of the Hummingbird Robotics Kit to create interdisciplinary STEAM lessons (involving STEM subjects with the arts added)
  • Bots IQ The Smart Sport, concerning the Pittsburgh chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association’s creation of BotsIQ, a competition where students design and build robots for a gladiator-style contest and learn about associated careers

“I’ll be interested in hearing what everybody says,” remarks Pulkowski. “I always look at the Summit as: How can we partner with the other presenters there?”

Writer: Marty Levine

Source: Cynthia Pulkowski, ASSET