FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26, 2014
EDITOR’S NOTE: You are invited to send a reporter, photographer or camera crew to cover this event, or arrange pre- or post-event interviews with Janice McDonnell, Rutgers 4-H science, engineering and technology agent, by cell phone at 732-586-1130, office telephone at 848-932-3285 or by email at mcdonnell@marine.rutgers.edu. Or contact John McCarthy, senior administrator, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, by office telephone at 848-445-5241 or by email at john.mccarthy@rutgers.edu.
RUTGERSCIENCE SATURDAYS PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS SPY TECHNOLOGY
About 60 middle schoolers and their parents to play modern-day sleuths at Rutgers STEM event on March 29
WHAT: Rutgerscience Saturdays event to teach subjects like computer password protection, listening like a spy using laser technology and mapping crime scenes using 3-D computer software.
WHEN: Sat., March 29, 2014, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
WHERE: Rutgers University Busch Campus; CoRE Building auditorium (10-11:45 a.m.) and Electrical Engineering Building classrooms.
WHO: Hosted by the Rutgers Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Rutgers 4-H Department of Youth Development.
BACKGROUND: Rutgers offers a variety of in- and out-of-school opportunities for New Jersey youth to engage in STEM learning, including Rutgerscience Saturday events in which Rutgers faculty and graduate students serve role models to help kids get excited about a future career in science and engineering. In 2009, the National Research Council published a report, Learning Science in Informal Environments: People, Places, and Pursuits, which concluded that “There is mounting evidence that structured, non-school science programs can feed or stimulate the science specific interests of children, may positively influence academic achievement for students, and may expand participants’ sense of future science career options.” National 4-H embraces STEM as a critical part of its mandate and Rutgers Cooperative Extension is poised to play a vital role in creating interest and competency in these areas.