Science Club for Girls will host their annual Catalyst Awards event in-person this year, on April 25, 5:30-8PM, at The Broad Institute (415 Main Street, Cambridge). Honorees this year will be Dr. Latanya Sweeney and Dr. Emily Reichert. Sumbul Siddiqui, Mayor of Cambridge, will speak in person, and Senator Elizabeth Warren will speak by video. Get tickets here.
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Ligerbots compete in Rhode Island District FIRST Robotics Competition
After six intensive weeks of designing and building its new robot, Atlas, Newton’s dual-high-school robotics team, the LigerBots, competed well at the Rhode Island District Competition this weekend. Through mistakes and victories, the LigerBots team was the first pick for the third-place alliance captain and won the event’s Sustainability Award, which places the team 33rd out of 227 teams across the district. Other well deserved accolades earned at the event:
- Newton South HS junior Kevin Yang, the Ligerbots’ co-Chief Technical Officer, was named a District Championship Dean’s List Semi-Finalist for his impeccable leadership.
- Greer Swiston, an eight-year adult mentor for the Ligerbots, was nominated as a finalist for the prestigious Woodie Flowers Award, in recognition of her long-time dedication to the team.
Go LigerBots!
Grades 7-8: MIT Spark registration open until midnight tonight
MIT SPARK will be held next weekend, March 18-19, for students in Grades 7-8 to learn from MIT undergraduate and graduate students in over 70 two-day courses . The lottery phase of registration is over, but registration remains open on a first-come/first-served basis until 11:59PM on March 12. Students must register on their own. More info here.
Center for Astrophysics: Public Observatory Night online, Mar. 16
The Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics will host its Public Observatory Night online on March 16, 7PM-8PM, with a livestream of Monitoring Air Pollution from Space, presented by Caroline Nowlan, a physicist in the CfA’s Atomic and Molecular Physics Division. The event will be streamed on the CfA’s Facebook and YouTube channels.
Grades 6-12: Apply by Mar. 17 for Beantown Bash “Anti-Hackathon,” Apr. 1
Beantown Bash is an “anti-hackathon” to be held at Tufts University (Joyce Cummings Center, 177 College Avenue, Medford) on April 1. Unlike other hackathons, it’s focused on creating, without presentations; the creations do not have to be tech-related; and results will be judged by peer participants. Suggested project tracks include:
- Refry Rehash: Mixing and matching favorite things to make something new
- New Connect: Finding new ways to meaningfully connect people
- Small Data, Big Ideas: Exploring information on the community level
It’s free. While it’s focused on high school, middle-school students are welcome. Register by March 17 — individually or as a team of up to four.
Grades 8-12: Northeastern Splash!, In-Person, Mar. 18
Each spring, NEPTUN (a Northeastern University student group) hosts Splash!, a free program for students in Grades 8-12 to take fun and informative mini-classes led by Northeastern undergraduate students. This year, Splash! will again be held in-person at Ryder Hall on the Northeastern campus, on March 18, 8:30AM-6:40PM. The $0 cost includes free pizza and a T-shirt. Registration is now open and is first-come/first-served and requires setting up a free student account. For more information, see the FAQs or contact nu.neptun@gmail.com. You can also access online recordings of Digital Splash! courses from 2020. Among the 26 in-person Splash! courses this year are these STEM offerings:
- Need a Hand?
- The Spaghetti Challenge
- Electronics and Soldering Workshop
- Egg Drop Challenge
- Origami for fun and profit, part 2
- Thinking Outside the Cardboard Box: Prototyping with Cardboard!
- Medical Devices, Medicine, 3D Printed Organs: Let’s talk Bioengineering!
- The Key to Unlocking Data: An Intro to Database Management
- The Lore of Languages: How Coding Came to Be
- The Entire Internet in an Hour!
- AI Q&A with an introduction
- The Fermi Paradox: Where is Everyone?
- Miraculous 3-Pound Jell-O
- Speculative Evolution
- Funky Science: DIY Lava Lamps
- Color me Intrigued: Playing with ROY G BIV
- We all scream for ChemE Ice Cream
- Real Life Sci-Fi: Gene Editing
Newton Schools Foundation seeks donations for Calculus Project
The Calculus Project works in all of Newton’s middle and high schools to have more Hispanic, African American, and low-income students successfully complete calculus in high school, as a path to success in college. The program provides intensive, small-group summer classes, enrichment activities, and year-round mentoring and tutoring. The TCP summer program includes instruction in Computer Science, field trips to STEM-related companies, and college campus visits for rising 11th graders with a focus on STEM majors and careers.
The program currently includes over 200 students in Grades 8-12 — 95% of whom are in honors or accelerated math. The Newton Schools Foundation seeks donations to expand the program to address a growing waitlist.
While the NPS operating budget funds part of the program, tax-deductible donations via the NSF are needed for the summer program, tutoring, enrichment activities, and supplies. This year’s campaign is $3,000 short of its $10,000 goal. Donate here.
Nitsch Engineering’s Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, Mar. 22
Nitsch Engineering invites girls in Grades 6-12 (optionally with adult chaperones) to their Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day on March 22, 9AM-2PM at Tufts University (Joyce Cummings Center, 177 College Avenue, Medford). The focus is on transportation engineering and roadway design. It’s free. Register by March 17, 6PM.
Harvard Medical School: Summer MEDscience Programs, Apply by Mar. 25
Harvard Medical School’s MEDscience summer program for Grades 9-12 offers three one-week programs and one two-week program, following four different curricula:
- MEDscience@HMS (clinical): hands-on, active learning in realistic, dynamic, simulated medical emergencies, offered each week, June 12 through August 18.
- MEDscienceLAB (research based): hands-on lab and clinical experience in research and medical simulation, offered each of the weeks beginning June 10, 17, and August 7.
- MEDscienceLab Forensics (research based): research underlying investigations of simulated crime scenes, offered each of the weeks beginning June 12, 26, July 24, and August 14.
- MEDscience Moonshot (clinical): deep immersion into biomedical engineering, computer science and medicine at Harvard Medical School’s medical simulation labs and research lab, with design thinking through IDEO Cambridge, two weeks July 24-August 4.
All programs are in-person, non-residential, on the medical-school campus. Scholarships are available for Boston-area residents, awarded based on student essays and teacher assessments. Apply by March 25. For more information, email hmsmedscience@hms.harvard.edu or call 617-432-7047.
McAuliffe Center: Stargazing, Mar. 27
The Christa McAuliffe Center at Framingham State University will host a free evening of stargazing and observation on March 27, 8:15PM-9PM (weather permitting), in front of May Hall on FSU’s campus in Framingham. For more information, email cmc@framingham.edu.