STEM Students Meet With Lawmakers for National Engineers Week

Broadcom MASTERS by Jen Baumgartner

Have you thanked an engineer this week?

It’s National Engineers Week and here at Broadcom, where our engineers work hard to develop the technology that goes into life-changing products, we celebrate the contributions that they make every day.

As part of the festivities, Broadcom Foundation is joining future engineers – middle school students affiliated with our Broadcom MASTERS® program – on a trip to the California state Capitol in Sacramento this week to share with legislators  the importance of investing in education focused around STEM topics (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).

“Through our meetings with California’s top elected officials, we hope to inspire our MASTERS winners and students around the world to study STEM subjects and stick with math and science through high school in order to open new pathways to college and science and engineering careers,” said Paula Golden, Executive Director, Broadcom Foundation.

Related: Rising Star Raymond Gilmartin Wins MASTERS® Top Prize

The students are set to travel to Sacramento on Feb. 20 to present their award-winning science fair projects to leaders in the California Assembly and Senate. They will also participate in key discussions with elected officials about efforts to help better educate young Californians in STEM subjects — especially engineering.

The five student lobbyists are familiar faces to the Foundation — all were either among the 300 semifinalists or the 30 finalists in the 2012 Broadcom MASTERS science fair competition for middle schoolers. The Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology, and Engineering for Rising Stars) program helps middle school students translate a personal interest into a passion for science, engineering and innovation, and encourages them to continue to engage with STEM learning through high school and beyond.

The students traveling to Sacramento this week are:

  • Jessika Baral: 13, Fremont, Calif.
    • Winner of the 2012 Broadcom MASTERS Marconi/Samueli Award for Innovation – $10,000
    • Project: “A Novel Way to Strengthen Eye Muscles and Enhance Peripheral Vision”
  • Shashank and Shishir Dholakia: 14, Santa Clara, Calif.
    • Among 30 finalists in 2012 Broadcom MASTERS competition in Washington, D.C.
    • Project: “The Sky Is No Limit — A Photometric Comparison of the Variable Stars Beta Lyra and Delta Cephei”
  • Raymond Gilmartin: 14, South Pasadena, Calif.
    • Winner of the 2012 Broadcom MASTERS Samueli Foundation Prize – $25,000
    • Project: “Spare the Environment, Spoiler the Car: The Effect of Rear Spoilers on Drag and Lift”
  • Tre Risk: 14, Indio, Calif.
    • Among 300 semifinalists of 2012 Broadcom MASTERS competition and one of the winners of the 2012 Disney Science Fair Competition
    • Project: “Reducing Aquifer Depletion through Increased Recycled Water Consumption”

Nearly 80% of Broadcom’s employees are engineers, many with inspiring stories from their early school days that turned them onto the subject.

“Fostering a passion for science and engineering within our young people has never been more important,” Golden said.

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