Captian Caitlin Miller and Mother MillerSeminole Ridge SECME coordinator and physics teacher Erich Landstrom said, “Caitlin truly belongs to what anthologist Margaret Mead once described as that small group of thoughtful, committed citizens who we should never doubt can change the world. Under her leadership, the Hawks soared high, taking home six trophies and ribbons at the annual engineering Olympiad. Caitlin helped me grow the school’s SECME program in very important ways. For example, this past November Caitlin lead our participation in “Engineering Family Fun Day,” a free annual event in Dreher Park that the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) hosts for Palm Beach County students. Caitlin also assists younger students. When students from Seminole Ridge volunteered to mentor the SECME program at Pierce Hammock Elementary School, Caitlin was the first to arrive and help their teams to build water rockets. Another instance of Caitlin bringing out the best was the “Let’s Build Something Together” challenge during February’s SECME Olympiad for elementary schools. She volunteered herself and her friends to give up a Saturday and to help with the “Gotta Regatta,” where students had to build a model boat and race them a filled rain gutter. Caitlin organized the activity so that nearly seven hundred students from 51 schools could see who had the fastest ferry.”
SECME students selected for the 2012-13 academic-year award receive a renewable $3,000 per year. Students must meet the academic requirements for admission into FAU and have participated in the SECME program in their high school. Applicants must major in Engineering, Mathematics, or Science, achieve a minimum score of 1450 (all three sections) on the SAT or a 21 on the ACT.
Brenda Simmons, director of FAU’s Division of Engineering Student Services, serves as the SECME director for FAU and chairs the SECME Industry Advisory Board. “It is very rewarding for me to work with the South Florida Industry Partners for Education, Broward County and Palm Beach Public Schools to increase the pool of talented students prepared to enter and succeed in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” said Simmons. “The SECME program offers exceptional opportunities for K-12 students to learn, achieve, and become excited about engineering and science based careers.”
SECME is a pre-collegiate program whose mission is to increase the number of under-represented minority students qualified to enter and complete courses of study in the STEM disciplines. Since its inception in 1975, the SECME program has helped to increase the number of minority engineers, scientists and mathematicians by enriching students’ academic preparation from grades K-12 while providing experiences to help raise their levels of aspiration. Teacher training is a significant piece of the equation in order for the program to succeed. It is a coordinated effort with 37 universities, 70 corporations and governmental agencies in 15 states, as well as the District of Columbia. FAU became an official SECME university during the 1986-87 academic year.
Florida Atlantic University 's College of Engineering and Computer Science is committed to providing accessible and responsive programs of education and research recognized nationally for their high quality. Course offerings are presented on-campus, off-campus, and through distance learning in bioengineering, civil engineering, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, geomatics engineering, mechanical engineering and ocean engineering. For more information about the college, please visit www.eng.fau.edu .
