(PASCAGOULA, Miss.) — Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division has awarded nearly $100,000 in grants to 25 projects from schools and educational organizations in Mississippi and Alabama. The grants, which were requested by the organizations, will be used for projects associated with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
This is the eighth year for Ingalls’ STEM program. The company has awarded more than $709,000 for STEM-related projects during that period.
“These grants allow students to implement STEM knowledge into these projects, while having fun in learning and interacting with each other,” said Edmond Hughes, Ingalls’ vice president of human resources and administration. “Ingalls remains devoted to promoting STEM-related activities through our local schools. We feel like these grants and other educational-related activities are an investment in future shipbuilders.”
The 2016 STEM grant recipients and projects are:
• BEST (Boosting Engineering Science and Technology): This is a volunteer-based program for middle and high schools that teaches skill sets for STEM careers. $5,000
• East Central High School: Funds will be used to purchase a telescope and associated components that will allow students to do daytime astronomy. $2,531
• East Central Middle School: Funds will be used to allow the robotics team to participate in the BEST Awards competition. $1,500
• Gautier Middle School: Funds will be used to purchase Vex materials that will enhance the school’s robotics program. Students will build and program competition-worthy robots. $3,394
• Gulfport Central Middle School: Funds will be used to purchase tablets that will allow students to watch pre-lesson experiments and research information on particular skills before performing the tasks in their centers. $1,000
• Gulfport High School: This grant will enable the school to transition the engineering classroom to Android-based devices and will require the students to learn how to make Android apps. $4,999.82
• Hancock Middle School: Students will design and build a mobile robot to play a sports-like game. $4,998.18
• Mae Eanes Middle School: This project will enhance student inquiry in science, technology, engineering, art and math by revitalizing existing but non-functioning science lab equipment. $5,000
• Magnolia Middle School: This project will allow students to examine the processes that many scientists use to treat human pathogens. $5,000
• Mary G. Montgomery High School: Funds will be used to purchase kits that will provide students the software and hardware necessary to build competition-level robots. $3,999.96
• Oak Park Elementary School: The students will be involved in building a tower for endangered chimney swift birds and observing and reporting data on the birds to the North American Chimney Swift Next Site Research Project. $2,900
• Ocean Springs Elementary School: The goal of this project is to provide opportunities for 600 students to develop an active role in STEM by building a learning center. $4,071.22
• Pascagoula High School: Students enrolled in environmental science classes will investigate the importance of natural resources as well as the impacts on human behavior. $4,443.26
• Resurrection Catholic Elementary School: Funds will be used to purchase launch kit modules and other associated equipment. $4,992
• Singing River Academy: Funds will be used to purchase equipment to implement a Vex robotics program. $4,961.59
• St. Martin High School: Students will work with unmanned aerial systems, remote-controlled underwater vehicles, remote and autonomously controlled robots, and the structural soundness of bridges. $4,999.65
• St. Martin Middle School: Students will go outside and incorporate sensory exploration into outdoor experiences and make observations about what humans have in common with other organisms rather than what makes us different. $5,000
• St. Martin Upper Elementary School: Students will use electronic building blocks to spark their creativity and create their own light show and artistic robotic arm. $3,571.95
• St. Patrick Catholic High School: Students will be involved in a project modeled after actual rescue situations where they will design and create a working robot to perform rescues. $5,000
• Woolmarket Elementary School: Micro-robots will be used to demonstrate robotics education. Students will design, market and share a new robot-type product in the classroom setting. $1,971