NEWS

WCC alum to speak during STEM week

WCC alum Aisha Bowe is set to speak during the campus STEM Week. Courtesy of Aisha Bowe

By Lilly Kujawski
Editor

STEM Week on campus begins on Feb. 4 and will include speakers, documentaries, workshops and other activities that aim to engage students in the the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematic fields.

Susan Dentel, a life science teacher and STEM program leader at WCC, hopes the week long event series will build student excitement and highlight STEM scholars at the college.

Presentations will cover a wide range of topics including local food and sustainability, public health, natural selection and biology.

The keynote speaker will be Aisha Bowe, an aerospace engineer, founder and CEO of STEMboard, and WCC alum. Bowe will share her story, detailing how she went from being a pre-algebra student at WCC to an aerospace engineer at NASA working in Silicone Valley.

WCC staff member Apryl Scheffler expressed excitement about the STEM Week events, particularly Bowe’s visit to the campus.

According to Scheffler, Bowe once had a guidance counselor who advised her to get a job in cosmetology. Instead, “she graduated from WCC, then she went on to go to U of M, then she went to NASA, and then she started her own company!” Scheffler said.

“So, she has this really awesome list of accomplishments, and she has a great story,” Scheffler said.

Other event speakers include teachers and faculty members from WCC as well as a few representatives from the University of Michigan.

STEM Week will also exhibit the mobile hacking workbench from the Advanced Transportation Center, presented by faculty members Michael Galea, a computer technologies instructor, and Cyndi Millns, a cybersecurity instructor.

The span of events will also feature documentary screenings hosted by WCC

STEM scholars and include “Human Planet: Into The Blue”, “Racing Extinction”, “Human Planet: People of The Trees”, “Cosmos, A Space Time Odyssey: The World is Set Free with Neil Degrasse Tyson” and “Before The Flood”, which follows Leonardo DiCaprio around the world as he examines climate change devastation.

According to Dentel, there are currently 24 students enrolled in the STEM scholars program at WCC. Students in the program have access to advising, academic coaching, tutors, conferences, internships, learning luncheons and other benefits.

“It’s an amazing opportunity for students,” Dentel said.

Feb. 11 will bring a new cohort of STEM scholars, Dentel said.

STEM Week at WCC will run from Feb. 4 to Feb. 8. Full schedule of events can be viewed via tinyurl.com/stemwk.