UA Engineering to Host SECME Summer Institute
June 15, 2011 - Filed under: Events | Tagged: College of Engineering, Engineering
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama College of Engineering will host the 35th Annual Southeast Consortium for Minorities in Engineering Summer Institute June 19-26.
About 90 middle and high school math and science teachers and more than 120 students from schools throughout the nation are expected to participate in more than 50 events. A sample of scheduled events includes building geodesic domes to space rocks in the classroom and magical science labs to Tia-Chi mathematics.
UA’s College of Engineering is hosting and assisting with overall event coordination.
SECME’s Summer Institute is the only professional development institute dedicated to bringing K-12 educators, university faculty, and industry and government experts together to contribute unique perspectives on equity and inclusion initiatives with a focus on learning and doing science, technology, engineering and math.
The SECME was established in 1975 as the Southeastern Consortium for Minorities in Engineering by the engineering deans at six Southeastern universities. In 1997, the name was changed to SECME Inc.to better represent the territories served today, which extend to schools, universities, science- and technology-based business and industry, and public and private agencies in 17 states, the District of Columbia and Grand Bahama.
The SECME’s mission is to increase the pool of historically underrepresented and under-served students who will be prepared to enter and complete post-secondary studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics; thus creating a diverse and globally competitive workforce.
In 1837, The University of Alabama became one of the first five universities in the nation to offer engineering classes. Today, UA’s fully accredited College of Engineering has more than 2,700 students and more than 100 faculty. In the last eight years, students in the College have been named USA Today All-USA College Academic Team members, Goldwater scholars, Hollings scholars and Portz scholars.
The University of Alabama, a student-centered research university, is experiencing significant growth in both enrollment and academic quality. This growth, which is positively impacting the campus and the state's economy, is in keeping with UA's vision to be the university of choice for the best and brightest students. UA, the state's flagship university, is an academic community united in its commitment to enhancing the quality of life for all Alabamians.
CONTACT: Mary Wymer, engineering public relations, 205/348-6444, mwymer@eng.ua.edu
SOURCE: Greg Singleton, director of engineering student services, 205/348-1447, gsingleton@eng.ua.edu