News
 

Institute's focus is minority students

Goal is encouraging women, minorities to pursue science study

Cougar News Services

About 650 educators, parents and students will gather on campus for the next three weeks with a common goal: reaching out to high school minorities and women interested in science and engineering.

The 28th annual Summer Institute of SECME (which originally stood for the Southeastern Consortium for Minorities in Engineering) will feature a variety of workshops, classes, competitions and special presentations.

Other activities will include a water rocket competition and a lecture on the changes the human body undergoes in space.

The goal of the institute, which will have components for students and teachers, is to encourage disadvantaged high school students who want to study technology, engineering, mathematics and science in college.

UH's Cullen College of Engineering is the principal sponsor of this year's event.

SECME was founded in 1975 by the deans of seven engineering schools. Today, the organization represents 43 colleges in 18 states, 70 government and corporate supporters and almost 120 school districts, including Houston's.

The program will continue through July 1, with a keynote address set for Monday by Alex Ignatiev, director of the Texas Center for Superconductivity and Advanced Materials at UH, who will speak on "The Science of Science Fiction."

For more information on SECME and the institute, visit www.secme.org.
 

 Send comments to dcnews@mail.uh.edu