Students ranging in age from 15 to 17 and from 6 different countries (Barbados, Belize, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago) are presently at the Caribbean Science Foundation (CSF), located on the Barbados campus of the University of the West Indies, to participate in the inaugural Student Program for Innovation in Science and Engineering (SPISE). The first annual SPISE runs from August 6 to September 1, 2012.
The SPISE is an intensive summer program for Caribbean high-school students who are interested in pursuing careers in science or engineering. The SPISE is one of the STEM education reform initiatives of the Caribbean Science Foundation with the long-term goal of helping to diversify the economies of the Region by stimulating more technology-based entrepreneurship within the Region. Both UWI and CXC are partners in the program.
The SPISE is modeled after the well-known and highly successful MITES program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (web.mit.edu/mites), and includes courses in calculus, physics and biochemistry taught by eminent academic and industry scientists and engineers from the Caribbean and the U.S.
Students in the 2012 SPISE will participate in hands-on projects as they work in teams to design, build and test systems in the areas of robotics and electronics. A highlight of the 2012 SPISE is the opportunity for students to assemble and operate underwater robots, a generous gift from the Sea Grant Program of MIT. In addition, the SPISE will include a brief introduction to Mandarin, and a humanities course covering: (a) the “one-Caribbean” concept, and (b) ethics in science and engineering. Students will demonstrate their hands-on projects at the conclusion of the program in a forum that will be open to the public.
It is anticipated that students who complete the SPISE will eventually attend some of the best science and engineering universities in the world, and become scientific, engineering and business leaders in academia and industry within the Caribbean.
For more information, please visit http://caribbeanscience.org
The full text of the press release can be found at http://caribbeanscience.org/news/files/PRESS%20RELEASE-2012%20SPISE%20Students%20Arrive.pdf
