NJ/NY teachers to participate in Stevens’ National Science Foundation ITEST program

HOBOKEN , N.J. — Sixty-six teachers from 33 schools throughout New Jersey and New York have been selected to participate in a prestigious engineering education and research program at Stevens Institute of Technology. The program is part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) initiative to increase the numbers of students pursuing technological degrees and careers, particularly those focused on the development and use of information technology (IT).

The two-and-a-half year collaboration by 33 schools with Stevens’ Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) is called the “BUILD IT” project. BUILD IT is research project funded under NSF’s Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program. ITEST is designed to increase opportunities for students and teachers to learn about, experience, and use information technologies within the context of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), including IT courses. It is in direct response to the concern about shortages of information technology workers in the US . Supported projects are intended to provide opportunities for both school-age children and for teachers to build the skills and knowledge needed to advance their study, and to function and contribute in a technologically rich society. BUILD IT:Using Underwater Robotic Vehicles to Build IT and Pre-Engineering Skills, led by the CIESE at Stevens, is one of only 20 ITEST awards made for this funding cycle throughout the US .

Pairs of teachers are participating in an intensive, two-week institute on the Stevens campus in Hoboken . During the institutes, which began on July 23, teachers will work in teams with researchers from Stevens to design, build and test underwater robotic vehicles to complete a set of increasingly complex challenges, including navigating a slalom course underwater, and snaring a wiffle ball and inserting it in a net. During the second week of the institute, teachers will test the lessons with two students from their schools, who will participate in a team-based series of activities that challenge students to use the engineering design process, to apply their scientific learning about topics such as buoyancy, and their problem-solving skills. These activities will be conducted in the research facilities of the Davidson Laboratory, a world-renowned ocean engineering and naval research center. The final lessons resulting from the summer experience will be implemented in the participating teachers’ schools in the 2007-08 school year.

“The BUILD IT underwater robotics activities provide an innovative and engaging challenge to support pioneering teachers seeking to introduce engineering and IT into their classrooms,” said Beth McGrath, Director of CIESE at Stevens, which is leading the project. “At the same time, students are able to test out their understanding of science concepts in real time through an intrinsically-motivating set of challenges.”

Journalists are invited to attend the summer institutes and observe underwater robotic vehicles and student presentations on Friday, Aug. 3, 2007 and Friday, Aug. 24, 2007 . For more information, please contact Stephanie Mannino at (201) 216-5602 or smannino@stevens.edu. To see BUILD IT in action, please visit: http://www.k12science.org/buildit/movies.html.

A roster of participating teachers and schools appears below:

ITEST Participants

School District 32, New York Harbor School :

Dorick Lee ( New York , N.Y. ), Tizoc Gomez ( New York , N.Y. )

Alpine, Alpine Public School:

Maureen McCann ( Fort Lee ), Rivka Rosenstein ( New Milford )

Bayonne , Bayonne High School :

Joseph Wyatt (No. Plainfield ), William Carroll ( Bayonne )

Bridgewater-Raritan- Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School :

Paul R. Kloberg (Kendall Park), Walter Gibbons (Bridgewater)

Cape May County- Cape May County Technical High School :

Bruce M. Pierpont ( Cape May ), Denman Sweetman ( Cape May )

Cherry Hill , Henry Beck Middle School :

Vandita G. DeSai ( Cherry Hill ), Marlene A. Houlihan ( Cherry Hill )

Cranford , Cranford High School :

Joshua Rosenblum (Metuchen), Carmine DeNicola ( Cranford )

Great Meadows Reg., Great Meadows Middle School :

Dean J. Tshudy ( Belvidere ), Stephen Thorpe ( Stroudsburg , Pa. )

Harrison , Washington Middle School:

Semira Kashi Mount (Livingston), Theresa C. Muth ( Belleville , )

High Point Regional, High Point Regional High School :

Brian Drelick (Vernon), Stephen Peltier (Sussex)

Hoboken , Hoboken High School :

Jayshree Amin ( West New York ), Joanne Pepe ( Hoboken )

Hoboken , Hoboken Charter School :

Howard Albert ( Woodcliff Lake ), Lisette Turitz ( New York , N.Y. )

Jersey City , Dickinson High School :

James Misoka ( Tobyhanna , Pa. ), Sandra Rivera ( North Arlington )

Jersey City , James J. Ferris High School :

Manisha Shah ( Jersey City ), Miguel Rivas ( Rutherford )

Jersey City , Lincoln High School :

Robert Mauriello ( Weehawken ), Troy Smith ( Jersey City )

Jersey City , Snyder High School :

Serge Mathurin ( Tinton Falls ), Aja Archibald ( Jersey City )

Lincoln Park , Lincoln Park Middle School :

Robert Neal ( West Caldwell ), David Winston ( Rutherford )

Monmouth County Voc , Marine Academy of Science & Technology:

Wendy M. Green (New Egypt ), Timothy Hinger (Cream Ridge)

Newark , Ann Street School :

Manuel Oliveira (Brick), Sharon Cardoso ( Newark )

Newark , Camden Middle School :

Megan Dellafave ( Nutley ), John Thomason ( Montclair )

Newark , Luis Munoz Marin Middle School :

Denise Rimite (Colonia), Tracey Watkins (No. Plainfield )

Newark , Maple Avenue School :

Edward Howard ( Newark ), Malika Moore ( Montclair )

Newark , Technology High School :

Danny Sylvester ( Raritan ), Gerald Kollath ( Bayonne )

North Brunswick , Linwood Middle School :

Danita Guarino (Somerset), Sheila Larang (Edison)

Passaic, Lincoln Middle School:

Rudolph Petrella (Moonachie), Frank Garcia (Passaic)

Passaic County, Passaic County Technical Institute:

Margaret Dermond ( Wayne ), Pat Cuntrera, W. ( Paterson )

Private, Grace and Peace Academy :

Melissa Petyo ( Toms River ), Anthony Melillo ( Toms River )

Private, St. Augustine School :

Eva Baquirin ( Union City ), Felipa Deytiquez ( Union City )

Red Bank, Red Bank Charter School :

Michael Lozinski (Howell), Ed Overstreet (Howell)

Red Bank, Red Bank Middle School:

Kathleen Hovey (Wall), David Fortin ( Lanoka Harbor )

Tenafly, Tenafly High School :

Matt Scanlon ( Teaneck ), Eric G. Di Gregorio (Hillsdale)

Vernon , Vernon Township High School :

Anthony Ciaburri ( Sussex ), James Franco ( Highland Lakes )

Washington Twp, Robbinsville High School :

Joy Wolfe ( Clarksburg ), Denise Merrill ( East Windsor )

Watchung, Valley View School :

Robert Thomas ( Verona ), Michael Vignola (Fanwood)

Westfield , Westfield High School :

Valentino Scipioni Jr. ( Clark ), Martin Maruschak ( Clark )

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,040 undergraduate and 3,085 graduate students, and a worldwide online enrollment of 2,250, with a full-time tenured/tenure-track faculty of 140 and more than 200 full-time special faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

For the latest news about Stevens, please visit StevensNewsService.com.