The MetroWest STEM Education Network (MSEN) is introducing a new speaker series focused on diversity in STEM. The series aims to highlight the need for diversity of identities and expertise in all STEM fields and to showcase the diversity and breadth of the sectors and occupations that require STEM skills. The series opens during Mass STEM Week 2020 (October 19th – 23rd) and will continue for the rest of the school year.

All of these talks are geared toward high school and college students, but educators and other adults are welcome. Please contact Suzanne Wright with any questions at swright4@framingham.edu. For more information about the Speaker Series https://www.metroweststem.com/2020-metrowest-events.

October 21st, 4:30 pm
Technology, Seems Neutral, But Is It? – Assimilationism vs. Intersectional Antiracism in Technology Design
Speaker: Dr. Katlyn Turner, Research Scientist at Space Enabled, MIT Media Lab
Registration Link https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_su1M0COuSriMHrWl3RqfYA

Human biases about things like race, gender, class, or sexuality are easily encoded into technology design. Technology isn’t quite neutral: it takes our biased inputs and produces biased outputs. This has real consequences for real people. In order to design better technologies that are helpful and beneficial for all, we can consider principles of antiracism–the idea that all races are equal– and intersectionality–the idea that our identities around factors like race, gender, and class influence how we experience the world. When we design technology with these principles in mind, we hope to create better outcomes for all.

October 22nd, 4:00 pm
STEM Thinking to the Rescue – Pandemic Tent Prototype
Speakers: This presentation features representatives from an architecture firm, an energy-oriented consulting engineering firm, a construction corporation, a live + digital brand experience agency, and a multi-disciplinary acoustics, audiovisual, and vibration consulting firm all based in Massachusetts.
Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZJbneii-SNWDnnZIoF-z-A

While still in development, the prototype of this pandemic-specific tent highlights the collaborative processes designers, engineers and builders pursue while engaging their science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills to advance emergency healthcare facilities such as for COVID-19. Working with builders, fabricators and engineers, a team of designers developed a new prototype for such a tent, one that has better ventilation and is easier to clean, quicker to install and more structurally stable than the general-purpose tents commonly used for pandemics. You are invited to learn about our current design for this pandemic-specific tent and to offer questions and suggestions that can help improve its performance. Animation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zy1OAcgx0U&feature=youtu.be

October 24th, 12:00 pm
BIPOC See Yourself in STEM + Mentorship – Navigating the Road to Success
Speakers: Aliyah Nisbett, Mechanical Engineering and Sustainable Community Development at UMass Amherst; Jessica Sanon, CEO/Founder, sySTEMic flow and Youth Employment Coordinator, Waltham Partnership for Youth
Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMtcuuurzsjHdOEPxH7SMEW7ato8aiCX_Vl

Come join the conversation with a college student and a female leader and mentor who will speak about their experience as a first-generation female engineering student, important environmental issues, the importance of mentoring and how to navigate your path to success in STEM.