Tennessee Valley Chapter Tennessee Valley Chapter of NDIA STEM Initiatives Bob Darnall Chapter President

Tennessee Valley Chapter Chapter Organization Board of Directors Space and Missile Defense Working Group (SMDWG)  Concentrates on Missile Defense activities General Membership

Tennessee Valley Chapter Support for Kindergarten through Graduate School STEDTRAIN ACTE UAH Science Fair Adventures in Engineering Undergraduate Scholarships Graduate Fellowships

Tennessee Valley Chapter STEDTRAIN (Science & Technology, Education & Training) Organization chartered under Huntsville Association of Technical Societies Provides $200-$1000 Seed Grants to K-12 teachers for projects that would otherwise not be funded  Teachers submit grant requests in spring  Submissions are rank ordered  Money is distributed at the start of school year based on funding collected  Board members provide support/mentoring to teachers throughout the year  Teachers present results at spring conference

Tennessee Valley Chapter NDIA/TVC Participation Major contributor for the past 6 years Several Board members on STEDTRAIN Board and participate in both grant evaluations and mentoring of teachers

Tennessee Valley Chapter TEACHER PRESENTATIONS

Tennessee Valley Chapter "K-12 teachers have almost no funds for hands-on science projects and hands- on has been shown to provide the best kinds of educational experiences. The STEDTRAIN Seed Grants make possible what otherwise could not be." "The best part of the Seed Grant was the extensive parental and community involvement. It is bringing the community together." "The children worked together as teams, each child contributing and each child learning from the others." "Some of our students are finding that their participation in the Seed Grant is helping their college applications. Now they can show research experience on their resumes." What STEDTRAIN Seed Grant teachers say about the program: (Paraphrased)

Tennessee Valley Chapter ACTE Science Fair for 5 th -12 th Grades One day competition NDIA/TVC is a significant source of judges In past years we have provided Space Camp scholarships to winners

Tennessee Valley Chapter University of Alabama at Huntsville (UAH) Science Fair High School Students participate at local University NDIA/TVC sponsors the Physics Category NDIA/TVC provides judges

Tennessee Valley Chapter Adventures in Engineering Co-sponsored with Air, Space and Missile Defense Association (ASMDA) One day “On Site” opportunity for High School Juniors and Seniors to see what Engineers do:  Breakfast at UAH with speaker  Visit multiple Government & Industry locations AM/PM  Lunch at U.S. Space & Rocket Center Museum

Tennessee Valley Chapter Undergraduate Scholarships Scholarship money provided to local Universities  UAH and Alabama A&M University (AAMU) Two $1000 Scholarships for each University Increasing to four $1000 Scholarships per University for 2007/2008 MOA with each University that defines areas of interest:  UAH – Industrial, SW, Elect, & Aero Eng  AAMU – EE, ME, Eng Tech, & Computer Science

Tennessee Valley Chapter Graduate Fellowships $2000 each US Citizen Research must be in area supporting Space and/or Missile Technology Emphasis on the Southeast – desire to attract good students to the Huntsville area Seven awards this year – Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, Auburn, UAH, Alabama

Tennessee Valley Chapter Summary STEM: Not a new concept to the Tennessee Valley Chapter (TVC) Several years ago we invited UAH head of Electrical & Computer Engineering Department to be on the Board –Resulted in increased interaction with Academia –NDIA/TVC President serves on UAH Industrial Advisory Board –UAH Board Member was logical choice as STEM Coordinator STEM Initiatives have been well received – Never cancelled or curtailed and always increasing, subject to funds and volunteer availability Direct impact on BRAC Decisions: 1995 & 2005 Significant interaction and feedback between Educational Institutions and Employers/Workplace TVC would be Happy to Host a STEM Conference/Symposium as soon as Practical