More than 600 area students and their families came to Rensselaer to participate in the ninth annual Black Family Technology Awareness Day on Saturday, Feb 10. The workshops, designed to spur young people’s interest in pursuing careers in science and engineering, were hosted by Rensselaer’s Office of Institute Diversity. Rensselaer’s Black Family Technology Awareness Day is part of a nationally celebrated week of the same name. The theme for 2007 is “The Future Starts With Me.”

More than 600 area students and their families attended Rensselaer’s ninth annual Black Family Technology Awareness Day. The program featured more than 20 workshops — led by Rensselaer professors, students, and community organizations — designed to spur young people’s interest in pursuing careers in science and engineering.

“Black Family Technology Awareness Day is designed to help eliminate the science and technology gap among members of the minority community,” said Kenneth Durgans, vice provost for institute diversity. “By showcasing science and technology in a fun and interactive way, we endeavor to motivate more minority students to pursue careers in these fields.”

The program featured more than 20 workshops — led by Rensselaer professors, students, and community organizations — that included exploring the mathematics of movement through break dancing, learning how to trace family roots through technology, engineering and physics through interactive multimedia, and exploring how plastic products are made via hands-on interactive science experiments, among others. In addition, workshops offering tips on preparing for the college admissions and scholarship process were also available for students and their families. 

Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson has long warned of what she calls the “quiet crisis” in America — the threat to our nation’s capacity to innovate due to the looming shortage in the nation’s science and technology workforce. The shortfall results from a record number of retirements on the horizon, and not enough students in the pipeline to replace them.

President Jackson believes the components of a comprehensive innovation agenda must include: support for basic research across a broad disciplinary front, investment in enhanced K-12 science and mathematics education, and direct funding for students pursuing degrees in science and engineering at the undergraduate and graduate level.

“We need to prepare all our children for the 21st century economy with a technical focus in mind. Effectively using technology in the 21st century is important for full participation in America’s economic, political, and social life,” Durgans said.  “To effectively counter this crisis we need to provide all students, particularly minorities who are underrepresented in the fields, with the programs and mentoring opportunities that will inspire them to pursue careers in science and technology. This event is one way that we can work to make a difference in the future of our children.”

Black Family Technology Awareness Day is part of Rensselaer’s larger effort to interest area young people and their families in pursuing occupations in the fields of science and engineering. Other “pipeline” programs include: Design Your Future Day, to engage young girls in science and engineering studies and professions; Exploring Engineering Day, to spark the interest of Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts in science, technology, and engineering; and Rensselaer’s Molecularium™ project to teach young children about the smallest forms of matter.

For information about Rensselaer’s Black Family Technology Day, go to: http://www.rpi.edu/%7esilasm/BFTAD/index.htm.  

For information on the “Quiet Crisis,” go to: http://www.rpi.edu/homepage/quietcrisis/index.html.

For information the Office of Institute Diversity, go to: http://www.rpi.edu/dept/diversity/.

Published February 12, 2007