Summer Bridge Student Receives NASA Internship

Congratulation to Joaquin Martinez, who participated in the 2012 Summer Bridge to the Beach program, on receiving this amazing opportunity at NASA! We wish him the best of luck on this journey. Here is a blurb from the Press Telegram’s article on him:

Fast forward to today, and the 16-year-old mechanical and aerospace engineering major is among 20 undergraduate students in the nation selected for NASA’s 2014 Aeronautics Scholarship Program.

He is also the first Cal State Long Beach student to be awarded the prestigious two-year scholarship of $15,000 per year. As part of the program, he will participate in an internship at one of NASA’s research facilities over the summer.

Article: 16-year-old CSULB student nabs one of 20 NASA Aeronautics scholarships [Press Telegram]

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Internship

Now accepting applications for U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 2015 HS-STEM Summer Internships

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sponsors a 10-week summer internship program for undergraduate and graduate students majoring in homeland security related science, technology, engineering and mathematics (HS-STEM) Disciplines. The program provides students with quality research experiences at federal research facilities located across the country and allows students the opportunity to establish connections with DHS professionals. It is open to students in a broad spectrum of HS-STEM Disciplines and DHS mission-relevant Research Areas.

Undergraduate students receive a $6,000 stipend plus travel expenses.

Graduate students receive a $7,000 stipend plus travel expenses.

10-week research experiences are offered at: Argonne, Berkeley, Livermore, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest, and Sandia National Laboratories; as well as at Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute, Coast Guard Research and Development Center, Customs and Borders Protection Laboratories and Scientific Services, Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Naval Research Laboratory, Engineer Research and Development Center, National Security Technologies Remote Sensing Laboratory, Transportation Security Laboratory, and more.

Areas of research: Engineering, computer science, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological / life sciences, environmental science, emergency and incident management, social sciences, and more.

U.S. citizenship required

Application deadline: December 22, 2014

Detailed information about the internships can be found at: http://www.orau.gov/dhseducation/internships/

A poster is located at: http://www.orau.gov/dhseducation/internships/files/hs-stem-2015-poster.pdf

Previous participants’ testimonials can be found at http://www.orau.gov/dhseducation/internships/stories-hsstem.html

DHS has partnered with the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) to manage the program. For questions please email us at dhsed@orau.org

Fellowship at the U.S. Dept. of Energy

U.S. Department of Energy Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship Program (MLEF)

The Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship (MLEF) Program provides students with an opportunity to gain and develop research skills with the Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy for 10 weeks over the summer. For 20 years, this program has increased awareness of DOE research opportunities to students pursuing STEM degrees (science, technology, engineering and math). The goal of the program is to improve opportunities for women and minority students in these fields, however all eligible candidates are encouraged to apply.  Stipends start at $600 per week and eligible Fellows will receive an additional travel and housing allowance.  For more information, visit http://orise.orau.gov/mlef/.

Eligibility

  • Be at least 18 years of age at time of application;
  • Be a U.S. Citizen;
  • Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0;
  • Be currently enrolled full-time in an accredited college or university (sophomore year or higher) or had a Ph.D. conferred on or after January 2, 2014 in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) degree

Application closes Friday, January 2, 2015 – click http://orise.orau.gov/mlef/ to get started NOW!

Life as a STEM Major

By: Annabelle Cantu – Promotora de STEM

Life as a STEM major is just about what you would imagine it to be. I almost always get the same facial reaction from people when asked what I am studying, followed by either an “ew”, “wow”, or my personal favorite “why”. In society today STEM careers are in high demand, yet there does not seem to be enough college students up for the challenge of pursuing STEM degrees: a problem to which I would ask the same question, why?

Since my freshman year here at CSULB about 85% of the friends I have met in STEM courses have switched their major out of the realm of science. I entered this university knowing that there was only one route for me – chemistry. Similar to my friends I started to realize the difficulty and demand of the classes I was taking my second year. I became depressed with my academic performance and uncertain if I was good enough to stay a chemistry major. I reached out to an advisor and a few professors and seemed to get the same answer – switch majors. I contemplated switching out of science, but realized I did not come to college to major in something I was not passionate about. Fortunately the same semester I had joined the Hispanic Health Opportunities Learning Alliance (H2OLA) and had a graduate mentor to talk through my problems with.

To this day I never regretted staying with my major. After struggling I realized that no one is going to believe in your abilities if you don’t believe in yourself in the first place, and that you are not going to believe in yourself unless you give yourself a reason to.