Talent

STEM Solutions Conference: Day 2 Recap

Posted on by theprossman

By Justin Driscoll, Director, STEM Talent Acquisition

Day two of the STEM Solutions Conference in Austin is wrapping up.  After attending many different sessions where I was able to listen to employers and education excerpts talk about STEM education and the need for STEM workers I thought I would put together a running list of ideas discussed and suggestions made.

  • Employers are the biggest consumers of STEM workers, they need to be involved in their local school district, Career and Technical Center, Community College, and four-year institution
  • If employers want to have a pipeline of workers entering their company they need to be continually working with their local education institutions to be a true partner and not just a consumer of talent.  If you don’t engage you will be reactionary in your talent acquisition methods.
  • Smaller companies really need to engage with local education institutions because these schools do not even know you exist.  The schools typically only know and think about large employers because their names are on the buildings and they are always in the news.  If your company isn’t making headlines the schools won’t think about you if you don’t engage.  How can you start today?
  • Community Colleges are very important in the talent pipeline.  It is true that the culture still values a four year degree or master’s degree more than an associate’s degree from the community college.  However, that mindset needs to change.  If your company is having a tough time finding talent consider reaching out to your local community college.
  • Make sure your employees are engaged with local districts through career days, mentorship opportunities, classroom speakers, guest teachers, etc…
  • Host schools at your office for company tours and info sessions

The bottom line is that if your company wants to ensure a consistent flow of talent at your company you need to be very engaged with local schools and colleges so you are part of the conversation and top of mind with teachers and administrators.

Update from Austin on the STEM Solutions Conference

Posted on by theprossman

By Justin Driscoll, Director, STEM Talent Acquisition

Greetings from Austin TX!  I have the privilege of attending the national STEM Solutions Conference hosted by U.S. News and World Report this week.

One of the most interesting sessions I have attended so far is on Meetings Industry Talent Needs.  The panel discussion was based on a report published by the University of Phoenix, STEM Connector and U.S. News and World Report.  Here are the findings from the executive summery of that report.

Below are a few suggestions that education and industry can focus on to help solve the STEM workforce shortage.

From an educational perspective, companies are focusing their efforts on:

  • Cultivate the future workforce by attracting K-12 students to STEM fields via mentorships, internships, and after school programs.
  • Working with postsecondary institution to develop the STEM competences of near-term hires, future graduates, and career changers.
  • Partnering with certification bodies to ensure educational programs deliver up-to-date skills training for current and incoming workers.
  • Funding worker certifications and advanced education.

From a corporate perspective, employers are:

  • Coordinating internal company initiatives to build and sustain a stem capable workforce.
  • Prioritizing certification training and continuous learning.
  • Applying metrics to determine the effectiveness of talent development spending and workforce recruitment partners, and
  • Hiring and cultivating STEM talent during lean times to minimize worker shortages and ensure a sufficient workforce when growth resumes.

The report also focused on how K-12, post secondary and industry can cultivate the next generation of STEM workers:

  • Enhance relations with community colleges, four-year universities, graduate programs, and other talent development entities.
  • Work more closely with partners responsible for updating the skills of the current workforce and professional organizations or government agencies to ensure that certifications match current industry needs.
  • Address the diversion of capable students from STEM career tracks by creating pathways from grade school to graduate school.
  • Increase workforce diversity by expanding outreach efforts to women, Hispanics, and African Americans.
  • Use metrics more assertively to evaluate the effectiveness of talent development partners, corporate funding and other STEM initiative spending.

Stay tuned for more updates from the STEM Solutions Conference in Austin.

Have a say in where your tax dollars are allocated: Leverage PA’s Education Improvement Tax Credit program

Posted on by theprossman
Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development

Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development

Last July, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development announced a major expansion of the Education Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program, which provides incentives for businesses to contribute to scholarship organizations, educational improvement organizations, and/or pre-kindergarten scholarship organizations.  As a result of the credit, according to the Patriot News, more than 44,000 students have benefited from assistance under this program.

This morning, the Pittsburgh Technology Council hosted an event to educate its members on how to take advantage of this tax credit program offered by the state of Pennsylvania. Through the EITC program, Pennsylvania companies can offset a substantial portion of their PA tax liability by donating to an eligible educational improvement or scholarship organization. The EITC program applies to the following state taxes:

  • Corporate Net Income Tax
  • Capital Stock Franchise Tax
  • Bank and Trust Company Shares Tax
  • Title Insurance Companies Shares Tax
  • Insurance Premiums Tax
  • Mutual Thrift Institution Tax
  • Insurance Company Law of 1921
  • Personal Income Tax of S corporation shareholders or Partnership partners

Companies who participate in the EITC program can also claim their donation as a charitable deduction on their Federal tax returns as well.

Have a say in where your company’s tax dollars are allocated. Leverage the state’s EITC program to support the development of the next generation of the STEM (Science, Technology, Education, Math) workforce. Each year, $60 million is available through the EITC program. The deadline to apply is July 1.

For more information on approved uses, rules on maximum contributions and how to apply for the EITC program, visit www.newpa.com/EITC. Lists of eligible recipients for EITC funding are available on this page as well.

The event was sponsored by The Challenge Program, Inc., a non-profit organization that exposes high school students to career opportunities and motivates them to create good habits in high school which translate into good habits in the workforce.  TCP is currently operating in more than 100 schools in Pennsylvania.

 

Dan Siewiorek Named Director of Quality of Life Technology Center

Posted on by Jonathan Kersting
dan

Dan Siewiorek is now Director of the Quality of Life Technology Center

Dan Siewiorek has been named director of the Quality of Life Technology (QoLT) Center, a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center. Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh are partners in the center, which focuses on creating intelligent systems that improve the quality of life for everyone while enabling older adults and people with disabilities.

Siewiorek, a longtime CMU faculty member who had been acting director since the fall of 2011, was selected for the position following a nine-month national search process. He succeeds Takeo Kanade, director emeritus and professor of computer science and robotics.

“I am honored to take up leadership of the Quality of Life Technology Center as I have long been enthusiastic about the personal opportunities QoLT provides to help our older adults retain their dignity and independence,” said Siewiorek, who is the Buhl University Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science.

“The challenges of aging and disability are inspiring a whole cadre of interdisciplinary-minded researchers — engineers, scientists and clinicians — who are highly collaborative, well-integrated, and driven to produce QoLTs — an exciting new field of intelligent systems that will ultimately enable better quality of life for all,” he added.

Siewiorek is the co-founder and former associate director of the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems. He also was director of the School of Computer Science’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute and is founding chairman of the IEEE Technical Committee on Wearable Information Systems. Siewiorek has led interdisciplinary teams that designed and constructed more than 20 generations of mobile computing systems. His achievements span four decades of experience in parallel processing, computer architecture, reliable computing, design automation and more.

Siewiorek will continue to oversee the QoLT Center’s Virtual Coach (VC) Testbed Systems, a new generation of attentive, personalized systems that provide cognitive assistance based on an awareness of a user’s activities, contexts and abilities. These include systems that help in the rehabilitation of stroke patients, prompt memory recall for people with dementia and guide people in physical exercise.

“My wife and I watched our own parents age in assisted living and nursing homes,” Siewiorek said. “We saw their health and capabilities decline firsthand. We witnessed their efforts to help each other compensate for individual shortcomings and we observed directly the enormous toll that is often placed on caregivers. Their enduring, human spirit is what originally motivated me to focus my research on creating a new breed of assistive technologies.”

The Quality of Life Technology Center was founded in 2006 to explore the development of intelligent systems that augment body and mind functions, maintain health and well-being, prevent or slow decline, compensate for diminished human capabilities and enhance intact ones. In contrast to other smart devices, QoLTs are uniquely marked by emphasis on human-system symbiosis — an emerging approach to universal design that seeks to assure human and engineered components are mutually dependent and working together collaboratively toward task completion. The QoLT Center leverages state-of-the-art expertise in computation, sensing, robotics, machine learning, communication, social sciences, design and more to enable its disruptive paradigm.

PPG donates $50,000 to Math & Science Collaborative

Posted on by theprossman

 

PPG Industries Foundation

PPG Industries Foundation

The PPG Industries Foundation has donated $50,000 to the Math & Science Collaborative (MSC), a program operated by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit that helps K-12 educators gain a better understanding of how mathematical and scientific practices are used in the workplace.

“We are grateful for support from PPG and the PPG Industries Foundation in continuing to provide opportunities that strengthen the teaching and learning of math and science,” said Nancy Bunt, program director of the Math & Science Collaborative. “It is an example of how Southwestern Pennsylvania can work together to better prepare all students to fully participate in the future as mathematically and scientifically literate citizens.”

Under MSC direction, teachers and administrators from three Southwestern Pennsylvania school districts visited a PPG Industries facility and local sites of two other companies to observe how educational standards for math and science relate to actual workplace activities, and to learn how they can make teaching in their schools more applicable to real-world practices.

According to Bunt, the MSC coordinates efforts and focuses resources through innovative, evidence-based, regional approaches to the teaching and learning of math and science from preschool through college. The MSC Steering Council is comprised of representatives from school districts, nonprofit organizations, higher-education institutions, corporations and other stakeholders committed to strengthening the teaching and learning of mathematics and science.

“PPG is strongly committed to supporting the communities where its employees work and live, especially through educational programs that emphasize the importance of the STEM disciplines,” said Mehran Arbab, PPG director of glass science and technology and a member of the MSC Steering Council. “By collaborating with educators on such science, technology, engineering and math initiatives, PPG can help prepare tomorrow’s leaders in STEM-related careers that will be essential to advancing U.S. and global industries.”

Established in 1951, the PPG Industries Foundation demonstrates the values of PPG Industries by enhancing the quality of life in communities where the company has a presence. Interests of the foundation, in order of priority, are education, human services, culture and arts, and civic and community affairs. PPG also supports charitable causes by encouraging employees’ volunteerism and board service with nonprofit organizations. For more information, visit www.ppgfoundation.com.

 

About the Math & Science Collaborative

The Math & Science Collaborative (MSC) is Southwestern Pennsylvania’s regional approach to strengthening math and science education for all students from preschool through university by coordinating efforts and focusing resources. Founded in 1994 at Carnegie Science Center, it now includes more than 135 public and non-public schools in 11 counties. The MSC has been led by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit since 2002 and is supported by federal and state grants as well as local foundations. For more information, visit www.aiu3.net/Level2.aspx?id=440.

PPG: BRINGING INNOVATION TO THE SURFACE.

PPG Industries’ vision is to continue to be the world’s leading coatings and specialty products company. Through leadership in innovation, sustainability and color, PPG helps customers in industrial, transportation, consumer products, and construction markets and aftermarkets to enhance more surfaces in more ways than does any other company. Founded in 1883, PPG has global headquarters in Pittsburgh and operates in nearly 70 countries around the world. Sales in 2012 were $15.2 billion. PPG shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: PPG). For more information, visit www.ppg.com.

Bringing innovation to the surface is a trademark of PPG Industries Ohio, Inc.