INCOSE-San Diego Making a Difference in County K-12 Schools

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 16, 2014 – From servo motors to video cameras to even 100 lb. fishing line, the extensive array of equipment being provided by the San Diego chapter of INCOSE (International Council on Systems Engineering), has one paramount objective – help science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs that have been cut or are in danger of being cut due to budget shortfalls in San Diego County K-12 schools.

This year alone, INCOSE-San Diego and the INCOSE Foundation have provided more than $15,500 in grants to 15 schools across San Diego County covering fourth grade through high school. Sponsors that make the grants possible include Cubic Corporation, CareFusion, SAIC, Northrop Grumman, International Test and Evaluation Association (ITEA) and private individuals.

"STEM programs are designed to interest and excite students about careers in technical and scientific fields such as systems engineering," said Jim Gottfried, INCOSE-San Diego's president. "It's important to raise awareness about the pivotal role STEM education plays in enabling the U.S. to remain an economic and technological leader."

Hunter Pashkow, a science and industrial arts teacher at Warren-Walker Middle School in San Diego, said the school's SeaPerch Club was generously funded in part by an INCOSE grant.

"Last year our school placed second and third in the San Diego regional tournament, then went on to compete at Southern Mississippi State for the National SeaPerch competition," said Pashkow. "SeaPerch is an innovative underwater robotics program that equips teachers and students with the resources they need to build an underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV). The SeaPerch Program provides students with the opportunity to learn about science, technology, engineering and mathematics with a marine robotics theme."

And Maria Flaherty, who teaches fourth and fifth graders at San Onofre School, located at USMC Camp Pendleton, added her students are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their 'Cubelets' from INCOSE. Cubelets are mini-robotic cubes that can be snapped together to make robots that can respond to light, sound, motion, temperature and other Cubelets.

"My students will be using them as an introduction to robotics," said Flaherty. "Not only will they learn about robotics, but they'll be able to apply logical thinking skills to problem-based learning activities."

About INCOSE-San Diego Chapter

The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) is a not-for-profit membership organization founded to develop and disseminate the interdisciplinary principles and practices that enable the realization of successful systems. INCOSE-San Diego was established in 1991; since 2011 the chapter, with assistance from the INCOSE Foundation, has raised more than $40,000 for dozens of K-12 schools countywide. The Chapter also organizes an annual STEM fundraiser (next one is in February 2015) at the U.S.S. Midway Museum in downtown San Diego. See: http://www.sdincose.org/.

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