Army summer STEM program encourages students to 'RISE'

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. - For the third year in a row, high school
students spent two weeks working side-by-side with U.S. Army engineers
and scientists in their labs during the Aberdeen Proving Ground
Real-world Internships in Science & Engineering, or RISE, program
here July 11-22.

The RISE program is a partnership between the U.S. Army Materiel
Command's Communications-Electronics Research, Development and
Engineering Center, known as CERDEC, and the Communications-Electronics
Command, or CECOM, which provides in-lab experience for high school
students interested in pursuing science, technology, engineering and
mathematics, or STEM, fields who might otherwise lack inroads.

"The goal is for the kids who ideally already have a longstanding
interest in STEM, and who are looking to pursue STEM, to get a taste of
what that future feels like to be able to work with engineers who can
answer their questions," said Erica Bertoli, CERDEC Educational Outreach
Program lead, "And who can tell them, 'yes. You're interested in X, Y,
and Z, this is the kind of engineering for you.' It really gives them a
taste of what the future might hold."

Previously, the RISE program was only an option for Harford County
students. This summer, the program has expanded to include several Cecil
County Public School students as well.

"We're trying to slowly grow the program," Bertoli said. "From my
perspective, when we look at building a new program I like to build
slowly and make sure the infrastructure is in place before we just open
it up. So this year we wanted to take another building step forward and
that meant bringing in Cecil County where they have such amazing
qualified students. We also wanted to make sure that we were serving all
parts of our community and not just Harford."

The 27 student interns were divided to work in 10 different CERDEC and
CECOM labs and learned everything from cybersecurity to programing
robots to battle each other, from more than 30 engineers and scientists
who are experts in their fields.

"RISE, as a program, lives or dies by the engineers who participate in
it," Bertoli said. "The success of RISE is a direct function of the
excellence of the engineers that participate in it. These are engineers
who want to do this, who are committed to the idea of paying forward
into the new generation, and to fostering these kids."

The RISE program is a paid internship opportunity and student interns
are paid a stipend through Oakridge Institute for Science and Education
in partnership with the Department of Energy. The stipend is scaled on
the student's grade point average the previous school year.

Students are selected into the summer program by a panel of engineers
and professionals from the CERDEC and CECOM communities. Students were
required to submit two essays, a copy of their transcript and a letter
of recommendation. Their names were redacted so all the panelist saw was
the content to ensure the most qualified students would be selected.

"We learned how to use software to analyze data," said Alex Beam, a
rising senior at Havre de Grace High School, who worked in the CERDEC
Command, Power and Integration Directorate for two weeks. "We also
learned valuable information about calculus, chemistry and physics so
that we can get a head start on college and AP [Advanced Placement]
classes."

At the conclusion of the two-week internship, students presented what
they learned to APG leadership, their peers and family members at a
closing ceremony July 22.

"After these two weeks you all understand that you can be anything you
want to be," Bertoli said during the closing ceremony. "All of the
opportunities are out there for you, limited only by what you're willing
to put into them."