By Godson Umejiego, Senior Correspondent USA
TheEconomic Development Administration( EDA) has announced the eight grant recipients of the STEM Talent Challenge, a national competition that supports programmes to train STEM talent to create a robust STEM-capable workforce across the country, and boost US competitiveness on the global stage.
The US$2 million STEM Talent Challenge funds programmes that put Americans across the country on paths to good-paying STEM jobs and careers. The grantees’ programmes give industry sectors access to talent in their own communities to fill in-demand jobs, help drive innovation and strengthen regional economies across the nation.
US Assistant Secretary Alejandra Y. Castillo participated in an announcement event today at The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, Penn.
The eight awardees, selected from a pool of 77 applicants, will leverage an additional US$2.5 million in matching funds from a variety of private and public sector sources.
The STEM Talent Challenge grant recipients are:
Grantee: Chicanos Por La Causa (Phoenix, Arizona)
Sector: Advanced Manufacturing and Aerospace
Project Description: The Virtual Reality STEM Workforce Program will provide virtual reality-based career exploration opportunities and trainings necessary to enter critical job sectors, primarily related to semiconductor manufacturing and the aerospace industry.
Grantee: LabCentral (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Sector: Biotechnology
Project Description: The LabCentral Ignite Career Forge programme – which seeks to make the biotechnology industry more diverse, equitable and inclusive – will match talent with jobs and internships within LabCentral’s network of startups and industry hiring organizations.
Grantee: Metropolitan Community College (Omaha, Nebraska)
Sector: Information Technology
Project Description: Project OCTEIN will strengthen the STEM talent pipeline for IT businesses with a new workforce model that features recruitment of underrepresented individuals, training and certification, job placement, work-based learning opportunities, and other programmes.
Grantee: Purdue Polytechnic Anderson (Anderson, Indiana)
Sector: Manufacturing and Agri-Technology
Project Description: Purdue Polytechnic Anderson will build upon the success of several industry-driven pilot programmes and use a community-driven approach known as Strategic Doing to transform to the bachelor’s degree curriculum into micro-credentialing and job placement programs.
Grantee: Rung for Women (St. Louis, Missouri)
Sector: Geospatial Technology
Project Description: The Women in Geospatial Careers programme seeks to increase the number of women, especially women of color, in geospatial careers by providing coaching, training, support, and skill development needed to successfully enter geospatial careers.
Grantee: The University of Alabama at Birmingham (Birmingham, Alabama)
Sector: Data Science and Health Technology
Project Description: The Magic City Data Collective will bring together students and data professionals in project teams to conduct real-world data analysis that provides students with critical skills and experience to move into in-demand jobs in the local health technology sector.
Grantee: The Wistar Institute (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Sector: Biotechnology
Project Description: The Quality Science Pathway Apprenticeship will provide a unique pathway into quality science, a field which strives to ensure that products are free of defects, deficiencies, and significant variations, through job training, certification, and apprenticeship.
Grantee: Utah State University (Logan, Utah)
Sector: Advanced Manufacturing, Renewable Energy, and Electric Vehicle Transportation
Project Description: A work-based learning model will meet the talent needs of the advanced manufacturing, renewable energy, and electric vehicle transportation industries in Utah through internships, mentorship, and assessments that will reach about 350 engineering students, including 40 per cent from traditionally unrepresented groups.
