ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Aug. 4 — Dubbed the New Mexico Women of STEM, 17 women from across the state were honored for their contributions in motivating young women to pursue education and careers in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. (STEM) The room at the Pete Domenici Health Center of UNM was packed Saturday, August 1st, 2015, with 14 of the honorees, their guests, event organizers, and VIPs in attendance. The reception took on a sunflower theme to symbolize the spreading of seeds to a younger generation of female STEM professionals. Each honoree received a NM Women of STEM poster featuring themselves with a favorite inspirational quote, an award letter, and also took part in a photo shoot for a 16-month calendar that will feature these ‘STEM Sunflowers.’
The honorees come from a variety of organizations across the state including, Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs, New Mexico State University, Intel, Albuquerque Public Schools, NM Dept. of Game and Fish, University of New Mexico, Acaji, Santa Fe Community College, Navajo Technical University, Expanding Your Horizons Conferences, and New Mexico Tech.
The calendars will be distributed to students at schools throughout New Mexico around the beginning of the school year and will serve a dual purpose, with each feature page including the women’s accomplishments and biography that can also be used as a tear-off promotional poster to encourage young women in schools to make STEM choices for their own education. The cover will feature Jill Hruby, who was recently appointed president and director of Sandia National Labs, and will be the first woman to lead a national security laboratory.
The Supercomputing Challenge is one of the main sponsors of the calendar and recently wrapped up its 25th anniversary year of introducing middle and high school students across New Mexico, to the combined power of supercomputers, modeling and problem solving. The calendar was the brainchild of Challenge Program Manager, Patty Meyer who said, “The calendar will be a beautiful tribute to our diverse group of New Mexican women working in STEM fields of expertise. It will show all young women, regardless of race or background that they CAN succeed in STEM careers too.”
Along with private donations, other sponsors of the calendar include the Albert I. Pierre Foundation, UNM STEM-H Center and the NM Public Education Department. If you would like to help with a donation, please contact Patty Meyer with the NM Supercomputing Challenge at [email protected] for more information.
About the NM Supercomputing Challenge
Founded in 1990, the New Mexico Supercomputing Challenge is a nonprofit educational organization that sponsors an annual computational science competition for middle and high school students across New Mexico. To learn more about the Supercomputing Challenge and its mission, please visit their website at http://supercomputingchallenge.org.
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Source: New Mexico Supercomputing Challenge