AFRL recognizes STEM milestones
May 7—The Air Force Research Laboratory recently recognized milestones of two programs that aim to drum up enthusiasm in science, technology, engineering and math education.
AFRL last month took over the Albuquerque Convention Center to memorialize 30 years of a Mission to Mars program and 20 years for the Department of Defense STARBASE New Mexico program. Both initiatives aim to promote STEM education to underrepresented children.
The Mission to Mars program is for fifth graders and is a school-based course during which students simulate a manned mission to Mars. Last month, 1,000 fifth graders descended on the convention center for the culminating event.
The STARBASE program is run out of a facility on Kirtland Air Force Base. The facility has multiple classrooms and allows students to interact with military personnel to learn about different STEM careers.
"STEM outreach really keeps those students engaged," said Donald Shiffler, the chief scientist of AFRL's Directed Energy Directorate. "It is really hard for some of those families, because they're typically single-income, single-mother, single-parent families. It sets that excitement and really keeps those students engaged and it can really help getting them through that whole process."
Erin Pettyjohn, the deputy director of AFRL's Space Vehicles Directorate, said the laboratory's STEM outreach doesn't only help students. It also drives economic development throughout the country and gives the U.S. military an important edge.
"It's also important to the U.S., right, it helps us build a very strong economy, and helps us preserve peace through strength," she said. "It also teaches critical thinking skills to our students that transitions over into adults."
