Sugar Land, Texas (March 2015): Because there is such hype around engineering and scientific profession these days, everyone is touting the profession for just about anybody. As a result, more and more students are declaring, "I want to be an engineer!" But do they really understand what that means?  Austin High School’s Science Olympiad Club junior team manager Kalpana Vaidya decided the best way to answer this question was to invite scientists and engineers to Science Olympiad meetings to talk about their careers.  She invited scientists and engineers to participate in a talk series called “Scientist at Work”.

About twice a month, scientists and engineers from various companies such as Nalco, Fugro and Dow, come to Austin High School to share information about their professions to the members of Science Olympiad. Robert Smith, Managing Director at Fugro Global Environmental and Ocean Sciences Inc., said “Industry has to do its part in engaging young people to be interested in STEM subjects.  That includes making them aware of the massive range of career opportunities that exist and the exciting and innovative work that takes place.  If an initiative like Scientists at Work: The Talk Series can engage one additional student to study and develop a career in science and technology, it is well worth my time, and I am grateful for the opportunity to support it.” The speakers cover motivations for a career in their field, working environment, types of jobs within their field, and the industries that employ them.   Vaidya said, “ I created this series in hopes of aspiring high school students to learn how STEM studies can help them unlock and open doors to a diverse range of exciting careers. “

From this series, she also hopes to achieve one of the goals of Science Olympiad- to promote partnerships among community, businesses, industry, government and education and hopefully, attract more students to professional and technical careers in science and technology. Throughout history, scientists have played a big role in peoples' lives. They still do! But do students really know what scientists do?  After attending this talk series, hopefully more will.

If you are a scientist and would like to participate in the 2015-2016 Talk Series, please contact Kalpana Vaidya at kalpana.c.vaidya@gmail.com.