Lake Erie AISES Professional Chapter

Events

The events that are currently planed for this coming year are:

AISES National Conference

New York State Step Program

The chapter has agreed to support the NYS STEP Science Bowl by providing a keynote address as well as by serving as judges during the events.

Regional Conference

The LEPC has taken a primary role in helping to plan and organize the upcoming Region 6 Conference. The chapter members will be assisting the AISES college chapters at the Rochester Institute of Technology, which is hosting this conference, and Cornell University, which is co-sponsoring the conference. The LEPC is planning to assist in organizing the leadership portion of this conference. This will include organizing panel sessions to discuss leadership and professional development.

NAISEF

The National American Indian Science and Engineering Fair (NAISEF) offers great opportunity for 5th-12th grade students through the cash prizes and scholarships students can win. In addition, the exposure and experience students gain stays with them as they progress through their college and professional careers. NAISEF is a very special Annual Science Fair venue developed by AISES for American Indian students. NAISEF is an important component of the AISES effort to support Indian education. It is a critical early step towards success for the students who participate.

Past Events in 2006

Our first year of being a recognized AISES chapter has been very eventful. We have had the honor of being apart of the AISES national conference, the national science fair, and many other local events.

National AISES Conference

The LEPC was very active in supporting this year’s AISES National Conference, which was held in Detroit, Michigan. In fact, most of the emphasis of the chapter’s activities this past year focused on preparation for hosting the conference. Members of the chapter served in all aspects of the conference’s Local Planning Committee and made a substantial contribution of time and energy to put together a great conference. Participating in the planning effort for the national conference provided the LEPC an opportunity to recruit several of our new members, as well as establish a network of contacts at some of the region’s largest companies.

Chapter members also participated in the panel sessions during the conference. One of these presentations offered advice on the college planning process and gave tips on getting into colleges. This session was primarily geared towards the high school students that were in attendance at the conference. In another presentation, members shared their experiences during their transition to professional engineers after graduating from college. The focus of the session was to describe the expectations placed on recent college graduates entering the workforce and to provide some insight to what it means to be an engineer.

Regional AISES Conference

The first major activity of 2006 for the LEPC was supporting the Region 6 Conference, which was hosted by The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. The conference attracted over fifty students, professionals, and company representatives. At this conference, our chapter received its first major influx of new members as the conference served as the kickoff for our networking activities. Our chapter was also able to begin forming
relationships with the student chapters in Region 6.

National AISES Science Fair

Chapter members from NASA GRC participated as judges at NAISEF this past year and were able to present a special award from NASA.

Community Outreach

The LEPC developed its relations with local communities by offering academic tutoring for middle and high school students in Cleveland and Detroit. In Cleveland, these activities were offered through the American Indian Education Center. The American Indian Health and Family Services (AIHFS) coordinated all of the outreach activities in Detroit. In addition, AIHFS sponsored a career education and awareness fair where members participated by describing their profession and the types of higher education degrees needed to achieve those positions. Members of the chapter also supported the Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) coordinated by the State University of New York at Fredonia. STEP is a program that works in conjunction with the Seneca Nation in four school districts that serve the tribe’s reservations in western New York. The goal of this program is to encourage middle and high school students to consider pursuing higher education in science and technology related fields by providing practical educational experiences.

Chicksaw Nation

CNASA was an opportunity to extend our outreach activities to a national level and promote the vision of AISES. The Chickasaw Nation organized this camp for its middle and high school students in order to expose them to the potential opportunities available to them in science and engineering. This was primarily done by providing a practical, hands-on learning environment that focused on aviation and space-related fields of study. The LEPC involvement with CNASA was so well received by the students, other instructors, and the Chickasaw Nation that they have requested increased support for this coming year.

Tutoring

The Lake Erie AISES professional chapter working with the American Indian Education Center of Cleveland (AIEC) and the Native American Advisory Council of NASA provide free tutoring to every Thursday from 5:30pm-8pm at the AIEC. The tutoring is given in any subject elementary to high school, and college math and physics. Prep for the SAT, ACT, and GED can also be provided.