For your calendar

Los Alamos National Laboratory offers outstanding 8- to 12-week summer school internships for college students in a variety of disciplines. Dates and application deadlines vary, but the 2016 Computer System, Cluster, and Networking Summer Institute, for instance, will accept applications Feb. 13. Check the links on the Laboratory’s Summer Schools website for details.

The two-day MidSchool Math conference on Feb. 19 and 20 is the only national conference focused on math in the middle grades (grades 5 through 8). The conference will bring 650 educators from 30 states and across New Mexico together in Santa Fe to create a community of educators that share, grow and learn together and leave prepared to help students thrive in the classroom.

The conference will feature over 70 concurrent sessions and a keynote address by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., a leading researcher in the field of motivation and author of Mindset: the New Physiology of Success. An optional pre-conference workshop, "Great Math Teachers as Great Rebels," will be held on Thursday, Feb. 18, with noted author Steve Leinwand and MidSchoolMath co-founder, Scott Laidlaw. Advance registration is required. For details, check the MidSchoolMath website.

The night sky, both beautiful and mysterious, has been the subject of campfire stories, ancient myths and awe for as long as there have been people. A desire to comprehend the universe may well be humanity’s oldest shared intellectual experience. Yet only recently have we truly begun to grasp our place in the vast cosmos. To learn about this journey of celestial discovery, from the theories of the ancient Greek astronomers to today’s grandest telescopes, plan to see From Earth to the Universe at the Pajarito Environmental Education Center planetarium.

The Computer System, Cluster, and Networking Summer Institute is a 9-week technical enrichment program targeting third-year undergraduate college students currently enrolled in a computer science, computer engineering or similar major.

The program emphasizes practical skill development through a variety of activities, including hands-on technical training, lectures, professional development seminars and tours of Los Alamos National Laboratory facilities.

For details, see 2016 Computer System, Cluster, and Networking Summer Institute (pdf). Also consider reading the article Students gain valuable supercomputing skills while getting paid in Community Connections’ September 2015 edition.

Matter is the topic of the next Science on Tap, scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 18. The Bradbury Science Museum hosts Science On Tap every third Thursday of the month beginning at 5:30 pm at different venues in downtown Los Alamos. The February session will be held at the UnQuarked Wine Room. The evening begins with an informal 10- to 15-minute lecture followed by a lively group discussion. Science on Tap is a way for people to get out in the community, learn something new and meet people with similar interests.

Small businesses are invited to learn more about the Supply Chain Management Center. Participate in small group sessions to get answers to common questions, attend a forum to discuss business capabilities with the Center's commodity managers, and interact with members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation. The session will be held from 9 am to 4:30 pm at the Albuquerque Convention Center, 115 Brazos Room.

Discover E (Engineering) is an evening of interesting, interactive and fun engineering, science, math and technology demonstrations for K-12 students and their parents or guardians. Favorite activities include investigations of basic engineering, science, technology and math principles, including bridges, casting, chain reactions, chemistry, crystal structures, earthquake-resistant buildings, electrical circuits, engines, fluids, forensic science, liquid-nitrogen ice cream, optical illusions, radiation, robots, reverse engineering, sound waves, thermodynamics, vacuum cannon, and materials properties and processing. Time: From 4:30 to 7 pm. Location: Los Alamos High School’s Common Area. For further information, email Dr. Beverly Aikin (bevaikin@lanl.gov).

Teams of students from northern New Mexico area schools will test their critical thinking and teamwork skills building autonomous robots at the RoboRAVE Rally on Saturday, Mar. 5, at Northern New Mexico College in Española. This year’s Rally will include the Northern New Mexico Science Showdown going on simultaneously during the Rally.

There will be STEM activities throughout the day, including demonstrations from the Explora Museum and the Laboratory's Hazardous Material team operating its HazMat robots.

Northern New Mexico College is seeking volunteers to host hands-on activity booths at their STEM Career Day on Wednesday, Apr. 13, from 9 am to 2 pm. (STEM is science, technology, education and math.) The purpose is to network and expose youth to a variety of STEM fields.  Students in grades 9  to 12 from throughout northern New Mexico will be participating.

If you are interested in supporting this activity, contact Janelle Vigil-Maestas of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Community Programs Office at vigil-m@lanl.gov or (505) 665-4329.

Los Alamos National Laboratory’s participation in STEM events is made possible with support from the Department of Energy through the Laboratory’s Science Education Community Service Time Program.

To request STEM experts, members of the community can complete a brief online request form. The form also can be accessed from the STEM Education Programs website.

An additional option for requesting Los Alamos experts and other volunteers is through the Laboratory’s Volunteer Program, which partners with the national VolunteerMatch initiative.