The New Jersey Southern Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (NJSJSHS) meets every year to compete for scholarships and other awards by presenting to a panel of judges. Gayle Grant, chapter board member, is a longtime volunteer and supporter of this event. She is an advocate of the symposium and assisted in securing the chapter's scholarship award for an event that encourages research in STEM.
Rising high school students from across New Jersey converged for the eighth annual NJSJSHS in February. The chapter provided $1,700 in awards for paper and poster presentations. The NJSJSHS is open to high school students conducting research in STEM. The students compete for scholarships and other awards by presenting their results to a panel of judges and their peers. Judges included C5ISR Center, Naval Air Warfare Center, U.S. Air Force, professional associations (AFCEA International, Association of Old Crows, Society of American Military Engineers, Association of the United States Army), and industry partners (L3Harris and Aspen Consulting Group).
The annual event, held in partnership with Ocean County College, promotes work in the STEM fields for the high school students who could someday join the scientific workforce. The top five finalists advance to the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS). The goal is aimed at increasing student interest in STEM at the middle school, high school and college level.
In addition to the 10 finalists and six poster presenters, the event included a demonstration of a remotely operated vehicle used to explore shipwrecks and other coastal underwater environments.
A senior at the Marine Academy for Technology and Marine Science high school won the overall competition for her presentation, "Creating a Durable, Low Carbon Emission Concrete Through the Use of Recycled Materials." Along with several other top performers, she will advance to the JSHS Competition this April.
The NJSJSHS technical chair and C5ISR Center branch chief added, "What you don't see are the many volunteers who supported today's event, starting months ago with paper evaluations, paper selection, student orientation, mentoring sessions and final dry-run rehearsals. Special thanks to the C5ISR Center community, professional organizations and academia who make this annual event a labor of love."
The NJSJSHS is one of many STEM and community outreach programs AFCEA supports in New Jersey. |
