Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math (STEM) Education and Workforce Development
MLSC Programs for STEM Education and Workforce Development:
News Feed:
Springfield Technical Community College, recipient of one of the Center's Equipment and Supplies Grants, holds Biotechnology Center grand opening
On June 13, 2012, Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) held an open house event for their Biotechnology Program. Furnished with state of the art equipment funded by a grant from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center in 2011, the STCC Biotechnology Center will allow the college to continue its tradition of providing a high quality education preparing students for careers in the biotechnology industry.
From left to right: Alondra Santana, Dr. Robert Dickerman, Dean of Math, Sciences & Engineering Transfer, Jenaye Walbert, LaQuita Woods, Ryan Mudawar, Program Associate & Grants Administrator, Mass Life Sciences Center, Dr. Lisa Rapp, STCC Biotechnology Chair, Doug Gendron, Biology Teacher at NLCS. Photo courtesy of Joan E. Thomas
UMass Lowell Awarded $10 million for Emerging Technologies Center
On April 30, 2012, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center announced the approval of a $10 million capital grant to support construction of UMass Lowell's Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center. The 84,000-square-foot, $70 million Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center (ETIC) is scheduled to open this fall. Read the press release here >>
$5 Million Federal Grant Will Build Metro Boston’s Life Sciences Workforce -- Center to receive $800,000 over four years to supplement the Internship Challenge!
On March 8, 2012, Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced receiving a 4-year $5 million life sciences grant from the U.S. Department of Labor that will grow and maintain the area’s life sciences workforce. The Metro Boston Skilled Careers in Life Sciences (SCILS) initiative will provide industry specific job training for 360 metro Boston residents, support an additional 300 post-secondary students in internships, and provide career counseling and outreach services to over 3,000 individuals in Boston’s most competitive industries.
SCILS is being implemented in collaboration with the City of Boston’s Jobs and Community Services, and the MetroNorth, Metro Southwest, and South Coastal workforce regions. Training partners will include Boston University, Quincy College, and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. The program will serve more than 80 cities and towns in Metro Boston.
Susan Windham-Bannister, President & CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, addressing the audience following Mayor Menino's announcement at the Boston University School of Medicine on March 8, 2012.
Read the press release here >>
Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts receives $50,000 Center grant
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center has awarded a $50,000 grant to the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts. The grant will allow for a 10-week module in STEM within the FaB Factor Program, which is an early intervention and prevention program for at-risk, inner-city girls ranging from five to 17 years old. Read the press release here >>
Center awards $5 million for the Museum of Science's Hall of Human Health exhibit
On January 25, 2012, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center awarded the Museum of Science, Boston with a $5 million grant toward the construction of the Hall of Human Life, scheduled to open in 2013. This grant was awarded as part of the Center's 2011 Capital Project Matching Grant program. Read the press release here >>
Internship Challenge Participants Celebrate on the SouthCoast
On August 19, 2011, UMass Dartmouth and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center highlighted the work of Massachusetts student interns and the companies they have been working with in the SouthCoast region this summer through the Center’s Internship Challenge Program. The Internship Challenge is a workforce development program focused on enhancing the talent pipeline for Massachusetts companies engaged in life sciences. Read the press release here >>
UMass Dartmouth showcased the work of the Center’s 2011 Internship Challenge summer interns that are based in the South Coast region. Interns from Boston Open Labs, Five Star Companies, Imgen BioSciences, NuOrtho Surgical, PharmaHealth Clinical Research Services, and Phosphorex presented at the event hosted by the Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Center (ATMC) in Fall River on Friday, August 19, 2011.
Photos courtesy of Ethan Barrett.
View the slideshow for more photos from this event:
Center Announces the Expansion of
Internship Challenge Program
Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray and the Center have announced an expansion of the Center's flagship workforce development program, the Internship Challenge. The formerly summer-only program will now be available to students year-round, starting in the Fall semester.
Read the press release here >>
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Center Recognizes Recipients of Equipment Grants
From Left to Right: Matthew Morrissey, Executive Director, New Bedford Economic Development Council, Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical High School Superintendent Director Michael Shea, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center President & CEO Susan Windham-Bannister, New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang, Rosanne Franco, Science Department Head, GNB Voc-Tech; Allen Duarte, Grants Liaison, GNB Voc-Tech; and Five Star Manufacturing President David Cabral, receive a legislative citation from State Representative Stephen Canessa recognizing the school’s success in receiving an equipment & supply grant of $99,994 from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center for life sciences training and education.
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Center Announces $60,000 in Grants to Four STEM-Related Programs
The Center announced that grants totaling $60,000 have been awarded to four STEM-related programs, part of the Center’s efforts to further strengthen the state’s life sciences workforce. The Center is awarding four grants of $15,000 each to: DIGITS Project, Citizen Schools, Science Club for Girls, and LIFT2 in order to broaden young people’s knowledge of career opportunities in the life sciences and provide professional development for their teachers . The grants build upon the Patrick/Murray Administration’s strategy for enhancing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) educational opportunities across Massachusetts. Susan Windham-Bannister, President & CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, serves on the Governor’s STEM Council.
Massachusetts leads the nation in student math and science proficiency, and the Center has identified expanded access to quality STEM education programs as an important workforce development priority. The four grantees are taking innovative approaches to the enhancement of STEM education, while ensuring access for students from diverse backgrounds.
Please read the press release here >>
Center Announces First Round of Equipment Grants
The Center has announced the first round of grants through its new Equipment and Supplies Program for Skills Training and Education, which provides funding for the purchase of equipment at vocational technical schools, community colleges and workforce training organizations in Massachusetts. The program will provide grants totaling more than $3.4 million to 32 schools and organizations to support STEM education across the state. Please read the press release here >>
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| President of parent company Merck KGaA Dr. Stefan Oschmann, Governor Deval Patrick, and Dr. Fereydoun Firouz, President and CEO of EMD Serono Inc. at the grand opening of EMD Serono's new research facility in Billerica. | Dr. Bruce Jackson, Coordinator of Biotechnology Programs at Mass Bay Community College, with President Obama prior to receiving a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. |
Banafsheh Salamat, head of the Science Department at Lynn Vocational Technical Institute, after receiving a shipment of lab equipment and supplies from Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Vertex matched with an in-kind contribution the Center’s recently announced Equipment and Supply Grant for LVTI. The Center awarded LVTI a grant of $202,434 in February, 2011 through the new Equipment and Supplies Program for Skills Training and Education.
Center and Citizen Schools co-host "STEM Talent Showcase" at Massachusetts State House
Center launches the 2010 Internship Challenge and Middle School Students Showcase Hands-on Science and Tech Experiences
On May 17, 2010 over 200 college and middle school students from across the state gathered at the State House in an effort to put a spotlight on STEM – science, technology, engineering and math – education. Citizen Schools, a national nonprofit headquartered in Boston, and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center collaborated to host the "STEM Talent Showcase," an event celebrating college students’ career aspirations and middle school students’ achievements in STEM programs.
View the slideshow for more photos from this event:
Ribbon Cutting at Roxbury Community College
Life Sciences Center President & CEO Susan Windham-Bannister recently cut the ribbon at Roxbury Community College's new biotechnology laboratory. The new facility will provide biotechnology and biomanufacturing students with valuable lab skills in the life sciences. The college has two programs in biotechnology including a two year Associate of Science degree and a one year Certificate degree. Students will also gain experience through external internships in biotechnology and the life sciences. There are 32 students enrolled in the college's Biotechnology Programs, with six students slated to graduate in May 2010.
Roxbury Community College President Dr. Terry Gomes and Life Sciences Center President & CEO Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister prepare to cut the ribbon, officially opening the college's new Biotechnology Laboratory.
Center co-hosts luncheon on workforce development at Lasell College
On July 21, 2009, The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and Lasell College held a luncheon to discuss workforce development in the life sciences industry and how Lasell College can expand its curriculum to prepare students for employment opportunities in Massachusetts' life sciences Supercluster. Pictured here from left to right are Angus McQuilken, Vice President for Communications at the Massachusetts Life Schiences Center, Beth Nicklas, Esq., the Center's Vice President and Counsel for Academic Research and Programs, Michael Alexander, President of Lasell College and Paul Perkins, Sr. Director of Finance and Human Resources at EyeGate Pharma.
Internship Challenge Receives Extraordinary Response
The Center's Life Sciences Internship Challenge has received an overwhelming response since its February launch, with more than 500 applicants looking for internships this summer. Through the Challenge, 104 interns have been matched with 59 life sciences companies and research institutions.
Read the press release >>
MLSC Life Sciences Internship Challenge participants Lindsay Bonvini, a rising senior at Stonehill College, and Michasel White, a student at UMass Dartmouth, participate in a recent forum co-sponsored by the Center and Citizen Schools to plan new ways to enhance STEM education at the middle-school level. Bonvini and White are interning this summer at the UMass Dartmouth Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Center.
Internship Challenge Launch Event (June 2009)
UMass receives grant to establish Professional Science Masters Degree programs
Congratulations to the University of Massachusetts on being awarded a $124,000 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to create 10 life sciences Professional Science Masters Degree programs. The initiative will span all five campuses and multiple academic concentrations. The need for such programs was a key finding of the Life Sciences Talent Initiative (LSTI) study that the Center co-sponsored in 2008.
