Adventures in SupercomputingAdventures in Supercomputing

SUMMER TEACHERS SUMMER TEACHERS INSTITUTEINSTITUTE

SAN JUAN COLLEGESAN JUAN COLLEGE

Farmington, NMFarmington, NM

June 3, 2002June 3, 2002

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSACKNOWLEDGMENTS

• Summer Teacher Institute– Funded by a Grant from NASA Ames

Research Center, Mountain View, California– Through Applied Research and Educational

Outreach of The Center of Excellence for Information Systems Engineering and Management

– With Special Assistance of New Mexico Tech, Technet and San Juan College

A NATIONAL PROBLEMA NATIONAL PROBLEMWHY YOU ARE HEREWHY YOU ARE HERE

“WE HAVE A SEVERE SHORTAGE OF SCIENTISTS

AND ENGINEERS

YOUR HELP IS URGENTLY NEEDED”

CRITICAL SHORTAGE LOOMSCRITICAL SHORTAGE LOOMS

• NASA’s Administrator recently stated that

30 to 50 % of NASA scientists could retire in the next 3 to 5 years

• The current pool of possible replacements in colleges is sorely inadequate in real numbers

• The pool of minorities and women is even more limited

THE OPPORTUNITYTHE OPPORTUNITY

• CAREERS will be available to qualified applicants

• The hiring “frenzy” will provide NASA and other agencies with an opportunity to DIVERSIFY as never before

• NASA AiS & TSU can aid in this STRATEGIC effort

A PROPOSAL TO ATTRACT A PROPOSAL TO ATTRACT UNDERSERVED MINORITIES TO UNDERSERVED MINORITIES TO

SCIENCE & MATHMATICS SCIENCE & MATHMATICS

• A Mountain to climb to bring:– African Americans– Spanish Americans– American Indians

Back to their roots in the study or

“WHAT’S OUT THERE”

CENTER OF EXCELLENCETennessee State University

CENTER OF EXCELLENCETennessee State University

Close PartnersClose Partners

2-Year Colleges2-Year Colleges

High School OutreachHigh School Outreach

TSU Resources

● Streaming Video Astronomy

● Proven Astronomy Research

● Astrobiology Institute

● NRTS

● CASS

● Astronomy Educator

● Student Research Involvement

● Summer Student Program

● Exploring Minds Project

● Viable Partners At HBCU and OMU Institutions

● An HBCU, 9000 Students, 76%+ African Americans, Willingness To Grow And Change

ALABAMA A&M

Existing NRTS Partner

85%+ African American

Strong Physics Program

Strong NASA Ties URC

SOUTH CAROLINA STATE

Existing NRTS and CASS Partner

2500 Mostly African American Students

Hubble Astronomer (Bubble Nebula)

Summer Institute In Astronomy

UNIVERSITY OF THE

VIRGIN ISLANDS

Interested New Partner

NRTS Partner With SCSU

Interested In Astronomy Program

UTEP

Hispanic Serving Institution (65%)

NRTS Experts In Multimedia

Existing Partners In NRTS and URC

15,000 Students

NEW MEXICO

STATE UNIVERSITY

Hispanic And Native American Serving Institution

Manages Apache Point

Existing Partner Dr. Anderson

KENTUCKY STATE UNIVERSITY

NRTS Partner (7 Years)

NOVA Partner (First Direct NASA Money)

90%+ African American

2,500 Students

SAN JUAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Native American And Spanish Serving Institution

Existing Partner With Adventures In SuperComputing

Teaching There This Summer

SAN ANTONIO COLLEGE

Hispanic Serving Institution

Astronomer On Staff

Interested In Partnering

SOUTHWESTERN INDIAN

POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE

95% Native American

Cultures With Interest In Stars

Existing Partners With MU-SPIN

THOMAS JEFFERON HIGH SCHOOL

Existing Partner With Dr. Alvarez

Exploring Minds

Open To Innovation

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL

OF NASHVILLE

Existing Partner With Dr. Alvarez

Exploring Minds

Open To Innovation

ADVENTURES IN SUPERCOMPUTING

66 Schools

120+ Teams

450 Students On Teams Doing Research

CENTER OF EXCELLENCETennessee State University

CENTER OF EXCELLENCETennessee State University

PARTNERSPARTNERS

2-Year Colleges2-Year Colleges

High School OutreachHigh School Outreach

Pathways To The FuturePathways To The Future

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

Opportunities For Upper Division And Graduate Study

Good Contacts Of Mentioning (Dr. Burks)

THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA

Opportunities For Upper Division And Graduate Study

Good Contacts Of Mentoring (Dr. Whorton)

Want To Partner With TSU

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

NOAO And Kitt Peak

Opportunities For Upper Division And Graduate Study

Good Contacts For Mentoring At NOAO And U of Az (Dr. Whorton)

UCLA ASTROBIOLOGY

Opportunities For Upper Division And Graduate Study

Good Contacts Of Mentoring (Dr. Gary)

Want To Partner With TSU

External AssociationsExternal Associations

• AAVSO

• VTIE

• SPACE FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

• VIRTUAL OBSERVATORAY

• NASA DAX LIBRARY

Avon Williams Campus

Tennessee State University Main Campus.

SOME STATISTICSSOME STATISTICS

• K – 3 90+% OF STUDENTS INTERESTED IN SPACE SCIENCE

• GRADES 7 – 8 ~ 30% STILL INTERESTAED

• GRADUAUATING HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS – LESS THEN 1% INTERESTED IN SPACE SCIENCE

Highlighted TSU AssetHighlighted TSU Asset

• Astronomy 1010 and 1020 Streaming Video

• A different course to be available anytime, anywhere if you can be connected to the Internet

Astronomy 1010 StyleAstronomy 1010 Style

• Interviewing the professionals

• Over 40 interviews completed

• Appropriate comments in course flow

• Complete interview on demand of the student

TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITYTENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITYCenter of Excellence in Information Systems Engineering and Center of Excellence in Information Systems Engineering and

ManagementManagement  

Performance SummaryPerformance Summary1995-20011995-2001

 

Refereed Publications: 385 Non-Refereed Publications: 188 Presentations: 388 Seminars: 142 Student Support: 41 UG per Yr

10 G per Yr

 Staff: 7 Full-time Researchers; 13 Part-time Faculty; 3 Post-

Docs

Astrobiology InstituteAstrobiology Institute

• Approved in March 2002

• $200,000 seed funding

• University renovating lab space

• Partnership developing with Ames Research Center and UCLA

PROPOSED APPROACHPROPOSED APPROACH

• TSU serves as a clearinghouse to facilitate PATHWAYS to Space Science

• Begin recruiting in High Schools

• Provide Introduction to Astronomy

• Recruit using the web

• Recruit using minorities on Campus Sites

• Tout program at National Math and Science Meetings for Secondary Teachers

PROPOSED APPROACHPROPOSED APPROACH

• Recruit through MU-SPIN Network

• Recruit at Tribal College Meetings

• Recruit at Spanish Serving College Meetings

• Develop Summer High School Program

• Expand Existing Summer Program for College students

PROPOSED APPROACHPROPOSED APPROACH

• Tailor Summer Program for Matriculation to NASA Co-op programs

• Nurture contacts at major universities to mentor students from TSU Clearinghouse

• Provide funding for students (scholarships)

• Involve students in real projects i.e. Space Watch, AAVSO, Data Analysis, and Management

CONCLUDING PARTNERSHIPCONCLUDING PARTNERSHIP

• Let’s Climb the Mountain Together

• Bring Diversity to NASA

• ONE STUDENT AT A TIME