NYU Opens New Tech Hub In Former MTA building Downtown Brooklyn

The Center for Urban Science and Progress moved into 370 Jay Street in Brooklyn.

370 Jay Street will house engineers, research scientists, game designers, media artists, and musicians – all interacting and collaborating under one roof.

Launched in 2012, CUSP has earned a reputation as a leader in the study of urban informatics. The school integrates data and social sciences to understand and improve cities, working to solve challenges ranging from pollution and homelessness to crowded public transportation. The school offers a yearlong MS program that gives students the opportunity to tackle real-world problems in and out of the classroom, partnering with City and State organizations, including the New York City Economic Development Corporation and Department of Environmental Protection. Research projects CUSP has helped launch are the ongoing SONYC noise pollution research initiative that received $4.6 million in funding from the National Science Foundation, and a partnership with Women in Need to create the city’s first smart homeless shelters.

Afrotech 17

1000 Black techies, thought leaders, and entrepreneurs in 1 room for 2 days on the water in San Francisco? AfroTech, the largest black tech conference in Silicon Valley!

With two full days of the latest technologies and hottest startups, you will have a chance to learn from some of the best, and connect with fellow innovators.

CLICK HERE

 

 

The Engineers Responsible For Smart Phone Photography Awarded Huge Cash Prize

These talented inventors paved the way for smartphone cameras, selfies, Instagram, and plenty more besides.For without the groundbreaking research of Eric Fossum, George Smith, Nobukazu Teranishi, Michael Tompsett, and the late Willard Boyle, your smartphone camera might not even exist.

Four surviving engineers were rewarded for their work in digital imaging technology across three decades, work that besides smartphones has also had a huge impact in other fields such as medicine and space research.

The prestigious Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, which celebrates world-changing innovations in engineering, awarded the four inventors a cash prize of 1 million pounds (about $1.25 million) at a special event in London on Wednesday night.

The engineers are responsible for three digital imaging breakthroughs: the charge coupled device (CCD) found in early digital cameras; the pinned photodiode (PPD) that helped to scale down the size of light-capturing pixels and enhance image quality; and the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor used by most of today’s digital cameras and imaging equipment.

Japan Plans To Train 40,000 In India

Japan’s providing skills to  40,000 technical people in 10 years by collaborating with engineering colleges and other institutions.

While speaking at the prestigious International Engineering and Technology Fair (IETF), the ambassador stated that  Japanese Ambassador to India, Kenji Hiramatsu in Delhi is keenly interested in transferring technology to India. Anant Geete, Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, assured Indian manufacturers that the Government would take concrete steps for re-energizing the capital goods, automotive and heavy industries. Over 500 companies from 25 countries are expected to participate at this event held by the Confederation of Indian Industry every two years. IETF 2017 is supported by 10 Ministries of Government of India and Government of NCT of Delhi, besides several relevant industry associations.

The minister added that technology should play a major role in revamping the manufacturing sector. The industry should adapt state-of-the-art technology developed elsewhere and, at the same time, should encourage more indigenous innovation and research and development.Countries like Japan could provide the relevant technologies and investments in the core sectors of Indian industry. Japan is the partner country for the IETF for the fifth time.

Intel Adding More Women & Minorities To Its Ranks

Intel is becoming more diverse, announcing an ambitious plan to add more women and minority workers to its ranks.

Since January, roughly 17% of Intel’s senior hires were historically under-represented minorities — about double the rate last year. Intel also doubled its senior hiring among women to 33%

Moreover, roughly 41% of Intel’s hires for the year so far have been diverse. Up from about 30% a year ago. The diverse hiring has occurred throughout the company, including the engineering, human-resources and finance departments. Intel has roughly 106,000 employees.

Barbie’s Book Sparks Outrage

Barbie’s: I Can Be a Computer Engineer’ book, which was released in 2013, has been slammed for being one of the most sexist and demoralizing representations of how women can excel in computer science.

Novelist and screenwriter Pamela Ribbon, reviewed the content of the book, found the book at a friend’s house and was dismayed to see how out of touch the content was from reality.

In the book, which is ostensibly aimed at young girls with the goal of interesting them in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) careers, Barbie wants to be a computer engineer, but requires the help of two male friends to solve her computer problems.

Barbie, who is working on a game idea to teach girls about computers using puppies, tells her sister Skipper in the book that she is only creating the design ideas because she’ll need Steven’s and Brian’s help to “turn it into a real game!”

Barbie, who is working on a game idea to teach girls about computers using puppies, tells her sister Skipper in the book that she is only creating the design ideas because she’ll need Steven’s and Brian’s help to “turn it into a real game!”

The plot thickens when a virus infects Barbie’s computer, Barbie’s female computer science teacher instructs her how to backup and repair an infected computer (a good skill), but to actually get that done she needs Steven and Brian’s help.

The book, published by Random House, received withering comments online as female programmers, engineers and pop stars, who freelance as InfoSec experts, all chimed in with their criticism and “suggestions” to fix the text of the book

 

 

Tech Summer Camps Booming In Popularity

 

Tech summer camps are growing in popularity particularly around the Pacific Northwest.

iD Tech Camp is holding several summer tech camps at the University of Washington.Video games are very popular. At iD Tech Camps, kids ages 7-to-17 are learning how to code, program, and develop video games and apps. They also get hands-on training in Photoshop, web design and popular robotics classes.

Camp counselors are trying to get young people trained in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs. iD Tech Camp points says more than one million jobs in STEM fields are expected to go unfilled by 2020. Yet, 9-out-of-10 high schools don’t offer computer science classes. Computer Science is a field where the females are  outnumbered by males. Still at the tech camps there are more boys than girls.

Major tech companies like Twitter, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, LinkedIn released their workforce diversity figures this week after much pressure. According to USA TODAY, males outnumbered female staff by an average of 70% to 30%. The majority of workers were white followed by Asian.

 

Twitter’s Figures & Stats

 

Twitter’s diversity figures, by ethnicity. Graphic via Twitter.

More Stats Here

Google’s Stats

Facebook

Pinterest

Yahoo

 

The STEM Crisis & Recruiting From Overseas

 

STEM -Science Technology Engineering Math

The rest of the world is  soaring ahead while United States lag behind.  Our knowledge capital, which fuels innovation and economic growth, is at risk. 

The National Math + Science Initiative list hard facts on why STEM education matters and why our country’s student performance must improve in order for America to remain globally competitive. 

Decline in Education in America’s Elementary and Secondary Schools

• 44 percent of 2013 U.S. high school graduates are ready for college-level math.
• 36 percent of 2013 U.S. high school students are ready for college-level science.
• 26 percent of 2009 U.S. students took Algebra I before high school. (Up from 20 percent in 2005.)
• Only 12 percent of black students and 17 percent of Hispanic students took Algebra I before high school in 2009. But, 48 percent of Asian students took Algebra I before high school in 2009.
• In 2013, 42 percent of American fourth grade students and 35 percent of eighth grade students, performed at or above the proficient level in mathematics.
• In 2011, 32 percent of eighth grade students performed at or above the proficient level in science.
• In 2009, 34 percent of American fourth grade students and 21 percent of twelfth grade students performed at or above the proficient level in science.
• 9 percent of Hispanic and 10 percent of black U.S. students took advanced Algebra or calculus in 2008, compared to 22 percent of white students and 43 percent of Asian students.
• 19.5 percent of AP test takers in the class of 2012 earned a qualifying score on an AP exam.
• 27 percent of 2011 test takers took an AP science exam and 26 percent took an AP math exam.
• 

• Decline in Higher Education in America

  • Students who progress through at least Algebra II in high school are twice as likely as those who do not to complete a four-year degree.
  • 38 percent of students who start with a STEM major do not graduate with one.
  • In 2009, men age 25 and older held 87 percent of bachelor’s degrees in engineering fields.
  • In 2009, of the 56 million people age 25 and over with a bachelor’s degree, nearly 20 million of them held a degree in a science and engineering field

  • Teachers

    • In 2007, about a third of public middle school science teachers either did not major in the subject in college and/or are not certified to teach it.
    • 36 percent of public middle school math teachers in 2007 either did not major in the subject in college and/or are not certified to teach it.
    • Teacher turnover is costing America $7.3 billion annually.
    • In 2007, the average cost of teacher turnover was over $17,000.
    • Replacing a poor teacher with an average one would raise a single classroom’s lifetime earnings by about $266,000.

    • International Comparisons 

      • 29 nations: The number of industrialized nations whose high school students performed better than U.S. students in math in 2012.
      • 22 nations: The number of industrialized nations whose high school students performed better than U.S. students in science in 2012.
      • In 2008, 4 percent of U.S. bachelor’s degrees were awarded in engineering.Compared to 31 percent in China.
      • In 2008, 31 percent of U.S. bachelor’s degrees were awarded in science and engineering fields. Compared to 61 percent in Japan and 51 percent in China.

      • Workforce

        • As of February 2012, more than half of the 30 fastest growing occupations require some level of post-secondary education.
        • “All of the increase in employment over the past two decades has been among workers who have taken at least some college classes or who have associate or bachelor’s degrees – and mostly among workers with bachelor’s degrees.”
        • The number of science and engineering (S&E)  bachelor’s degree completions has grown by 19% from 2009 to 2013, compared to9% growth for non-S&E disciplines.
        • Of the 15 Major categories, Engineering has the highest median earnings, yet less than 20% of students choose a STEM path.
        • In 2008, 59 percent of all jobs in the U.S. economy required post-secondary education. (Up from 28 percent in 1973.)
        • By 2018, it is projected that 63 percent of all jobs in the U.S. economy will require post-secondary education.
        • By 2018, 92 percent of traditional STEM jobs will be for those with at least some post-secondary education and training.
        • 23 percent of STEM workers are women, however women make up 48 percent of workers in all occupations.
        • In 2009, 12 percent of STEM workers were non-Hispanic black and Hispanic. But,non-Hispanic black and Hispanic individuals accounted for 25 percent of overall employment.
        • Women received 29.6 percent of computer science B.A.’s in 1991, compared to 18.2 percent in 2010.
        • 23 percent of STEM workers are women, however women make up 48 percent of workers in all occupations.
        • Jobs in computer systems design and related services, a field dependent on high-level math and problem-solving skills, are projected to grow 45 percent between 2008 and 2018.
        • The U.S. may be short as many as three million high-skills workers by 2018.

The Growth of STEM Jobs

 

 Science,Technology, Engineering,  Math 
The map also reveals pockets of the U.S. where key industries are clustered among the largest cities:
• Motor vehicles parts manufacturing traditionally focused in Rust Belt cities, but Southern metros such as Birmingham, Louisville and Nashville are emerging in this sector.
• Oil and gas extraction is a major driver of high-wage job growth in Texas, Oklahoma and the surrounding region. It’s also becoming a driver of job growth in Denver.
• General freight trucking is concentrated in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast (Nashville, Memphis, Jacksonville, etc.), where transportation routes are plentiful and huge population centers are in close range.
• Software publishing has a big presence in Silicon Valley, but is also growing in major markets such as Seattle, Boston, Atlanta and Denver.
• General medical and surgical hospitals are driving jobs in Columbus, Chicago, Baltimore, Boston, Rochester and St. Louis, among others.
• Highway, street and bridge construction has seen an uptick in jobs in Baton Rouge, Oklahoma City and San Antonio as cities rebuild after natural disasters and address other public concerns.

In a separate study of the same 100 metros, CareerBuilder and EMSI discovered which metros have added the most jobs per capita post-recession:

1. Salt Lake City, UT – added over 62,000 jobs since 2010, up 9 percent (534 new jobs per 10,000 people)
Originally a farming community, Salt Lake City has grown into an industrial center for the state. Industries that have experienced strong job growth in this metro include electronic shopping and mail order houses (up 43 percent), software publishing (up 28 percent), specialized freight trucking (up 23 percent) and credit intermediation (up 22 percent).

2. Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI – added over 39,000 jobs since 2010, up 10 percent (513 new jobs per 10,000 people)
This manufacturing heavyweight has benefitted from the rebound of production jobs after the recession. The metro saw job increases in various manufacturing segments such as plastics product (up 35 percent), motor vehicle parts (up 33 percent), metalworking machinery (up 30 percent) and office furniture (up 12 percent). Hospitals also accounted for an upswing in jobs (up 16 percent).

3. San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara, CA – added over 91,000 jobs since 2010, up 10 percent (498 new jobs per 10,000 people)
It’s no surprise that software publishing (up 30 percent), computer systems design (up 19 percent), data processing and hosting (up 16 percent), computer manufacturing (up 12 percent) and scientific research (up 9 percent) are big contributors to employment for this Silicon Valley metro.

4. Austin–Round Rock– San Marcos, TX – added over 90,000 jobs since 2010, up 11 percent (488 new jobs per 10,000 people)
Austin has made a name for itself as a technology and business hub, fueling job growth in management, scientific and consulting services (up 35 percent), computer systems design (up 35 percent), data processing and hosting (up 35 percent) and semiconductor manufacturing (up 17 percent).

5. Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown, TX – added over 281,000 jobs since 2010, up 10 percent (451 new jobs per 10,000 people)
Energy-rich Houston continues to see job growth in utility system construction (specifically, oil and gas pipeline, up 45 percent), mining support (up 38 percent), metal and mineral (except petroleum) wholesalers (up 31 percent), oil and gas extraction (up 25 percent), and architectural and engineering services (up 21 percent).

More Here