Role Models in Science & Engineering
carlyo | February 19, 2016As a girl growing up in the 1950s in Harlem, X-STEM Speaker Dr. Patricia Bath became fascinated by newspaper accounts of the humanitarian work of Dr. Albert Schweitzer (who treated lepers in Africa). That, coupled with encouragement and motivation from her family doctor and her parents, fueled her desire to become a physician.
She would not only go on to fulfill her dream, but make medical history as well. Dr. Bath, a noted ophthalmologist and laser scientist, is especially known for discovering and inventing the revolutionary device and technique for cataract surgery known as the laserphaco…
carlyo | February 12, 2016USA Science & Engineering Festival Speaker, Dr. James West, an Acoustical Scientist from Johns Hopkins University turned his childhood curiosity into a career of invention!
Looking back on his childhood days in Prince Edward County, Virginia, acoustical scientist James Edward West, says curiosity ruled his life. "If I had a screwdriver and a pair of pliers, anything that could be opened was in danger," remembers James with a laugh. That curiosity soon evolved into a keen interest in the mysteries of electricity, he says. "I became fascinated by electricity, just completely fascinated. I…
carlyo | February 20, 2015
In observance of African American History Month in February, the USA Science & Engineering Festival recognizes the accomplishments of African American pioneers and the important role they have played in paving the way for modern-day African American STEM leaders and innovators including Festival X-STEM and Nifty Fifty Speakers.
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carlyo | March 27, 2014This month, join the USA Science & Engineering Festival and the rest of the nation in celebrating Women's History Month, paying tribute to generations of women around the world whose contributions to numerous fields and endeavors -- including those in science, technology, engineering and mathematics -- have proven invaluable to society.
The national theme of Women's History Month this year is "Celebrating Women of Character, Courage, and Commitment," and we invite you to commemorate such innovators in two ways with the Festival. First, visit the Festival's Role Models in Science &…
carlyo | February 14, 2014USA Science & Engineering Festival X-STEM Speaker renowned aviator Barrington Irving sums up his current mission as a role model this way: "Kids want to be challenged, but today too many are bored and uninspired. I want to use aviation to excite and empower a new generation to become scientists, engineers, and explorers."
He has a lot to inspire kids about. Born in Jamaica and raised in Miami Florida's inner city, surrounded by crime, poverty, and failing schools, he beat the odds in 2007 when, at the age of 23, he became the youngest person ever (and only African American) to pilot a…
carlyo | February 12, 2014Archibald A. Alexander – Noted Design and Construction Engineer
Best known for designing Washington, DC's Tidal Basin Bridge and Whitehurst Freeway; first black graduate of the University of Iowa's College of Engineering; served as territorial governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands
Growing up in Iowa during the late 1880s, Archibald "Archie" Alexander remembers being warned that engineering was not something he could expect to succeed in as a black man. But he pushed forward anyway, later graduating in 1912 with a bachelor's degree in engineering from the State University of Iowa (now the…
carlyo | February 6, 2014Stephanie C. Hill – Computer Software Engineer and Lockheed Martin Executive
Vice President and General Manager of Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Solutions Civil line of business; recipient of the Black Engineer of the Year Award for 2014
Looking back recently on her lengthy and high-profile career at Lockheed Martin, engineer and executive Stephanie C. Hill said, "I've worked for Lockheed Martin for 27 years. Most of those years have been in the technological field, and I have never been bored. I have had the opportunity to make a difference in a way that I never imagined…
carlyo | February 4, 2014Ed Dwight, Jr. – Test Pilot, Aerospace Engineer and America's First Black Astronaut Candidate
Chosen in 1962 by President Kennedy as America's first black astronaut candidate; due to racism in the astronaut program, he resigned; now is a world-class sculptor, specializing in sculptures depicting aspects of Black History
Ed Dwight, Jr. was a 28-year-old Air Force captain at Travis Air Force Base in California when he got a letter from President Kennedy in 1961 urging him to apply to test-pilot school as a prelude to becoming America's first black astronaut. The son of a Negro League baseball…
carlyo | February 3, 2014George Washington Carver – Botanist, Inventor and Educator
One of the most phenomenal scientists of the early 20th Century. He found amazing uses for the peanut, sweet potato and soy bean that continue to enrich our lives. And against racial obstacles, his achievements paved the way for generations of young African American scientists
The ultimate agricultural botanist and chemist, George Washington Carver, from his early years, was known for his curiosity and his "burning zeal to know everything", especially about nature. He soon became fascinated with how to use botany and other sciences…
carlyo | January 28, 2014Gerty Theresa Cori -- Biochemist
Often considered one of the greatest women scientists of the 20th century. The first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine; known for her discovery (with husband Carl Cori and physiologist Bernardo Houssay) of how the body metabolizes glucose
Born Gerty Theresa Radnitz in 1896 in Prague (then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now the Czech Republic), Gerty grew up at a time when women were marginalized in science and allowed few educational opportunities. However, at age sixteen and influenced by her uncle, (who was a professor of…
carlyo | January 21, 2014Sonya Kovalevsky – Russian-born Mathematician
One of the world's best mathematicians of her era; established first major result in general theory of partial differential equations; first modern European woman appointed to full professorship; advocate of women's rights
Sonya Kovalevsky (also known as Sofia Kowalevski) was born in Russia in 1850 and became a noted mathematician in spite of a father who "had a horror of learned women," according to historical accounts. As a young woman, she could study math and physics only in secret. She married a man she did not love just to get away from her…
carlyo | December 6, 2013X-STEM - presented by Northrop Grumman Foundation and MedImmune - is an Extreme STEM symposium for elementary through high school students featuring interactive presentations by an exclusive group of visionaries who aim to empower and inspire kids about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). These top STEM role models and industry leaders are sure to ignite your students’ curiosity through storytelling and live demonstrations.
Our spotlight on our X-STEM Speakers continues with Acoustical Scientist Dr. James West:
Looking back on his childhood days in Prince…
carlyo | November 29, 2013Fred Kavli – Physicist, innovator, entrepreneur and philanthropist
He made millions manufacturing high-tech sensors for aircraft, cars and appliances; donated much of his fortune to establish the Kavli Foundation -- a philanthropy to benefit science, and which is also known for the Kavli Prizes in Astrophysics, Nanoscience and Neuroscience
From the start, physicist Fred Kavli was a visionary and an innovator. He left his native Norway for California as a young man and later made millions manufacturing sensors for appliances, automobiles and aircraft. Then late in life he began donating much…
carlyo | November 25, 2013X-STEM - presented by Northrop Grumman Foundation and MedImmune - is an Extreme STEM symposium for elementary through high school students featuring interactive presentations by an exclusive group of visionaries who aim to empower and inspire kids about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). These top STEM role models and industry leaders are sure to ignite your students’ curiosity through storytelling and live demonstrations.
Our spotlight on our X-STEM Speakers continues with Author and Publisher of Skeptic Magazine Dr. Michael Shermer.
In this world of…
carlyo | November 22, 2013Chien Shiung-Wu -- Experimental Physicist
One of the foremost physicists of the twentieth century, this Chinese-born American researcher was often called the "First Lady of Physics" for her pioneering work, which included radically changing scientific views on the behavior of nuclear particles
Chien Shiung-Wu once said: "I sincerely doubt that any open-minded person really believes in the faulty notion that women have no intellectual capacity for science and technology. Nor do I believe that social and economic factors are the actual obstacles that prevent women's participation in the…
carlyo | November 14, 2013C.V. Raman – Physicist
First Indian scientist to win the Nobel Prize in Physics. Known for his pioneering work in the scattering of light, now commonly called the "Raman Effect"
In 1930, at a time of limited opportunities for Indian scientists, his groundbreaking work in optics and the scattering of light led him to become one of the most renowned scientists that India has ever produced!
C.V. Raman (born Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman in 1888 in Tiruchinapalli, Tamil Nadu, India) was raised in studious home environment. His father was a lecturer in mathematics and physics. C.V. would go on to…
carlyo | November 7, 2013Vera Rubin -- Astronomer
Often called one of the most gifted but underrated astronomers today, her work confirmed the presence of dark matter in the universe, and since 1978, she has researched and analyzed over 200 galaxies
Born in 1928 in Philadelphia, Vera Rubin was 10 years old and living in Washington, DC when she first fell in love with the night sky, peering up at the heavens from her bedroom window. It was rare for a woman to study science at the time, but she was determined to make her mark. Vera earned a B.S. in astronomy from the prestigious women's institution of Vassar College…
carlyo | October 25, 2013Nikola Tesla -- Electrical and Mechanical Engineer, Inventor
One of science's most amazing visionaries of all time, Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla
was considered a mathematical phenomenon since childhood, being able as a high school
student to perform integral calculus in his head, which initially prompted his teachers to believe that he was cheating!
This famous engineer and inventor was known for developing the alternating-current (AC) electrical system widely used today and the discovery of the rotating magnetic field. Tesla also proved that the Earth can be used as an…
carlyo | August 26, 2013Daniel Hale Williams- Surgeon and Medical Educator
Medical textbooks in the early 1890s said that operating on near the human heart was too dangerous. But on a hot summer's night in Chicago in 1893, surgeon Daniel Hale Williams -- while attempting to treat a life-threatening chest wound to a patient -- plunged courageously into this void, and thus made medical history. In 1891 he founded the first African American-owned (and non-segregated) hospital in America, and the first nursing school for African Americans.
Read more of his fascinating biography here.
Learn more about the USA Science…
carlyo | August 8, 2013Kristin Laidre --Marine Mammal Biologist
Kristin Laidre is one of the world's foremost experts on the elusive, mysterious Narwhal whale. Her work with native communities in Arctic regions of Canada and Greenland is helping to preserve the Narwhal and other sea mammals from the effects sea ice loss due to climate change.
"I was always interested in marine biology, marine animals, and even science as a junior-high and high school student," she recalls. "In upstate New York I rarely got to visit the ocean, but when I did (usually on Long Island), I loved it and knew if I could create the…