UA to Conduct STEM Entrepreneurship Camp for Students in High School

Students complete a science task at the 2015 STEM Entrepreneurship Academy Camp.
Students complete a science task at the 2015 STEM Entrepreneurship Academy Camp.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — About 40 students from eight area high schools will have the opportunity to improve their knowledge and application of science, technology, engineering, and math while developing their entrepreneurship skills at The University of Alabama.

The campers will use a variety of campus and community landmarks for their studies and practice, including Morgan Hall, the Bashinsky Computer Lab, Farrah Hall, the Biology Building, and the EDGE Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The campers will be housed in the Presidential Village with meals in Burke Dining Hall.

The STEM Entrepreneurship Academy Camp will begin Sunday, July 17, and end Friday, July 22. Campers will be challenged to think logically, creatively and productively through clear communication, biomimicry (imitating nature to solve complex human problems) and generating and testing hypotheses. Camp activities will also emphasize finding one’s STEM “type,” producing competitive product prototypes and collecting data to test prototypes.

“We look forward to this third annual STEM Entrepreneurship Academy camp,” said Dr. Roseanna Gray, camp director for the Center for Community-Based Partnerships. “Students are in store for a variety of fun and innovative hands-on approaches to STEM in an atmosphere of critical thinking and entrepreneurship. We believe the camp will motivate many students to take the steps needed to become part of the important STEM fields.”

Campers will represent Amelia L. Johnson High School in Thomaston; Aliceville High School; Greene County High School in Eutaw; Hale County High School in Moundville; Holt High School; Oakman High School; Pickens County High School in Reform; and Sumter Central High School in York.

The camp inspires students to consider math, science and technology fields for their life’s work, said Dr. James E. McLean, executive director of the center.

“This camp is one of the premier activities of the Center for Community-Based Partnerships,” McLean said. “The message it conveys with respect to potential careers and skills learned are critical to the future of our state.

“Youngsters from these schools will have the opportunity to explore ideas and learn skills important to their future success and to the success of our state. I congratulate the spirit of cooperation that joins faculty and staff from four major colleges of this university with the leadership of eight area schools to make this life-changing camp a reality. As a former dean of education, I believe these are the kinds of experiences all high school students should have.”

The four colleges responsible for organizing camp activities are The College of Arts and Sciences, Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, College of Education and the College of Engineering. Camp faculty include Dr. Jim Gleason, associate professor of mathematics; Dr. Marcus Ashford, assistant professor of mechanical engineering; Dr. Ryan L. Earley, associate professor of biological sciences; Jonathan Corley, computer science doctoral student; Adriane Sheffield, educational psychology doctoral student; and Douglas Craddock, higher education doctoral student.

Ashford and Dr. Robert M. Morgan, executive director for innovation initiatives in The Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, are members of the STEM Entrepreneurship Academy advisory committee.

“This camp provides an outstanding opportunity for young people to learn from excellent instructors about some of the most important and desirable occupational fields of our time,” said Dr. Samory Pruitt, vice president of the Division of Community Affairs and a math major himself as an undergraduate at UA. “We expect many of them to find what they are looking for in their life’s work.”

Contact

Edward Mullins, director of Community Research and Communication, Center for Community-Based Partnerships, 205/246-3334, emullins@bama.ua.edu

Source

Carol N. Agomo, director of Community & Administrative Affairs, 205/348-7405, cnagomo@ua.edu