STEM Career Exploration Fellowships Available: High School Sophomores Can Now Apply
Now accepting applications for the sixth class of STEM Career Exploration Fellows
Fellowships that enable high school students to explore careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) are now open to current sophomores in Montgomery County, Maryland, the Washington, D.C. area, and the Baltimore Ingenuity Project.
Applications for the three-semester fellowships, sponsored by the Sandra Lee Heyman Foundation, are due by December 3, 2024, and available online. Fellows will become part of the program’s sixth class.
“Well over 100 students have gained insights into the expansive possibilities of STEM careers through the fellowship program,” said Mat Heyman, chairman of the Foundation’s board of directors. “This program helps to prepare students to make more informed choices about their path forward,” he said. To date, 123 high school students have participated as fellows in the program which launched in 2020.
The fellowships are intended for students interested in learning more about STEM. Those who already want to pursue a STEM career but have not yet identified a specialty – as well as students who are only beginning to consider the possibility of a STEM-based higher education and career – are encouraged to apply.
Fellows meet with STEM leaders from across the country, visit prominent institutions in the Washington, D.C., area, and access peers and mentors virtually and in-person to support career exploration in STEM fields. Most discussions with STEM guests are conducted virtually in a small group setting. Fellowships come with a $100 stipend to cover travel and STEM-related expenses.
For three semesters, fellows take part in events that offer close-up views of careers in which STEM education is a solid foundation – from laboratory researchers and those in “traditional” science and engineering careers to others who use their STEM backgrounds in business and finance, sports management, arts and entertainment, and journalism. Fellows also are connected with other successful STEM professionals for advice and are informed about internships.
To date, fellows have met with:
A Nobel Physics Prize winner, roboticists, a biophysicist, a materials scientist, and STEM career experts during tours and discussions at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as well as researchers studying birds during a tour and demonstrations at the Smithsonian National Zoo.
Multiple civil engineers (one who has started a company to provide communities with innovative energy-related solutions to climate challenges and another who provided a tour of US Capitol buildings and explained engineering opportunities in federal agencies), a computer scientist who specializes in artificial intelligence, an acoustical ocean ecologist, math and science teachers, and a White House meteorologist with expertise in climate issues together with another meteorologist working on issues related to structures.
An astronaut, multiple cybersecurity experts working in the defense and civilian sectors, a structural engineer who investigates building failures, an intellectual property attorney, a software engineer, the chief technology officer of Buzzfeed, a vice president of engineering at a data startup, a senior director of marketing at a major medical electronics company, and an electrical engineer who serves as vice president at an aeronautics firm.
Biomechanical engineers from multiple universities, a bioengineer, a neuroscientist, and a semiconductor researcher who is deputy of the advisory board overseeing the National Science Foundation.
An obstetrician, the chief of pediatric emergency medicine at an urban hospital and a pediatrician at a leading children’s hospital, as well as the manager for a program at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) who helped to develop vaccines to combat infectious diseases and pandemics, including COVID-19.
The lead official responsible for social, behavioral, and economic science research at the National Science Foundation (NSF), a climate science communicator with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and chemists who served as the chief executive of the world’s largest association of scientists as well as news media executives and university researchers and professors.
To date, 91% of fellows responding to surveys report that the fellowship has informed and influenced their interest in a STEM career – and 100% would recommend the Fellowship experience to other students interested in STEM.
The non-profit foundation conducts its work in memory and honor of Sandra Lee Heyman, who taught mathematics at the community college, high school, and middle school level in Montgomery County (MD), Fairfax County (VA), and New Providence (NJ). She passed away in 1998 due to an autoimmune blood disease. The Foundation was formed by Sandra’s family to honor her memory and extend her legacy.
The fellowships complement the 26 winners of the Sandra Lee Heyman Higher Mathematics Award, given annually by the Foundation since 1999 to a top math student at Richard Montgomery High School, where Sandra Lee Heyman last taught.
For more information, visit www.theslhfoundation.org/ or contact Foundation Board Chairman Mat Heyman: mat@theslhfoundation.org