Six Marlboro Students Graduate from Elite New Jersey STEM Program

Chatham, N.J. - This Saturday, Marlboro residents Brandon May, Anekha Goyal, Veda Gadiraju, Meghana Singh, Gillian Teitelbaum and Tiffany Zhao will join nearly sixty other students from across New Jersey in graduating from the Governor’s STEM Scholars program. Brandon and Tiffany are seniors at High Technology High School, Anekha and Gillian are juniors and Meghana a senior at Biotechnology High School, and Veda is a senior at Freehold High School.

The graduation will take place at the program’s final quarterly conference hosted by Montclair State University. At the conference, the scholars will showcase their final research projects and hear from outstanding speakers including President Mark Biedron of the New Jersey State Board of Education, Dr. Lora Billings of Montclair and the National Science Foundation, and Al Essa, Vice President of R&D and Analytics at McGraw-Hill Education.

A public-private partnership among the Research & Development Council of New Jersey, the Governor’s Office, New Jersey Department of Education, and Secretary of Higher Education, the Governor’s STEM Scholars (GSS) program provides high-achieving high school, college, and graduate students with a comprehensive introduction to the state’s STEM economy. The Scholars are a diverse and representative group of student leaders from all over the Garden State who excel in STEM and are interested in pursuing a STEM-related majors and careers.

“This weekend, the Governor’s STEM Scholars program will be graduating 59 of New Jersey’s most promising STEM students,” said David Hodges, director of GSS. “As Governor’s STEM Scholars, Brandon, Anekha, Veda, Meghana, Gillian and Tiffany received a comprehensive introduction to New Jersey’s STEM economy, highlighting some of the most innovative and exciting STEM organizations in the world through conferences, field trips, internship opportunities and a research project.”

“New Jersey has one of the country’s most highly-educated workforces and is a STEM research hub from biotech and pharmaceutical, to telecommunications and chemical, among others,” said Anthony Cicatiello, president of the Research & Development Council of New Jersey. “But to meet our state’s economic needs, we must fill over 269,000 STEM jobs in New Jersey by 2018. The Governor’s STEM Scholars was developed to start addressing this talent pipeline problem by engaging New Jersey’s best and brightest STEM students in New Jersey STEM opportunities.”

During the 2015-2016 academic year, GSS engaged the Scholars through quarterly conferences focused on STEM opportunities in academia, government and industry in New Jersey. Many Scholars went on field trips to United States Golf Association’s Indoor Test Range, Picatinny Arsenal, the Salem Nuclear Power Plant, and the New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell. In March, college scholars showcased their research projects at the Statehouse during the state’s STEM Week. In addition, GSS hosted an intimate luncheon with former AT&T Executive and Bell Labs’ scientist, Morris Tanenbaum, the co-inventor of the silicon transistor, which is the world’s preferred semiconductor material from consumer products to toys to electronics. As graduates of the program, students will have access to GSS’ alumni network, which will enable them to stay connected to STEM jobs and opportunities within the state.

Applications for the 2016-2017 Governor’s STEM Scholars program are still open. For more information visit www.govstemscholars.com/apply/.

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For more than half a century, the Research & Development Council of New Jersey has been dedicated to cultivating an environment supportive of the advancement of research and development in New Jersey. Since 1962, the Council has served as a unified voice for the industry, academia and government- working with the State to create an environment where R&D can thrive. More information can be found at the R&D Council’s website: www.rdnj.org.

Spearheaded by the Research & Development Council of New Jersey, the Governor’s STEM Scholars is a public-private statewide STEM enrichment education initiative for New Jersey students in grades 10 through the PhD level. The program is sponsored by DePuy Synthes, BD, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, PSEG, Community Foundation of New Jersey, Janssen, Novartis, NovoNordisk, Merck, PNC Foundation, Schumann Fund, South Jersey Industries, and Verizon. More information is available at www.govstemscholars.com.