STEM Initiatives

University of Massachusetts > UMass Lowell STEM

The following programs are STEM initiatives of UMass Lowell: 

Annual Colloquium on Research in Mathematics and Science Education	The Annual Colloquium on Research in Math and Science Education was initiated in 1996 to enhance the quality of graduate student research in education, to set expectations for intellectual interaction among educators as well as to create and sustain the spirit of sharing research findings. The major goals of the Colloquium are to foster expression of individual creativity and encourage scholarly contribution to the field, promote educational leadership and individual interest. The Colloquium is the great opportunity for those educators who are actively involved in their professional development. This is a program of UMassLowell.
Artbotics	The components of Artbotics Partnership between UMass Lowell and The Revolving Museum are interdisciplinary, combining principles of art and robotics. The Program broadens participation in computer science and provides an after school program for high school students in a College level course and the mentoring of high school students. Women and minority students participating will be introduced and recruited to the field of computer science. They will develop knowledge, expertise and confidence in the areas of math, technology, computer science, robotics and art.
Assistive Technology Design Fair (ATDF)	UMass Lowell's Assistive Technology Design Fair (ATDF) is an engineering service-learning project that challenges teams of high school students to find and solve real-world design problems involving assistive technology. Each team must find an elderly, disabled or special-needs person in its community, and identify a problem that the people have which can be solved using technology. This person/people become(s) the client.  Students research, brainstorm, explore, and evaluate possible design solutions, and ultimately build a working prototype of the solution to present at the Design Fair held each May. In 2007, 30 design teams and over 120 students from 10 Massachusetts high schools participated in ATDF, and 60% of students' projects were delivered to clients.
Botball and Robotic Education Programs	Botball is a competitive robotics education program for middle and high school students.  The program provides a 2-day introductory training in robotics at UMass Lowell for teachers and students, which is followed by an 8-week after-school design activity.  A Saturday competition is held at UML in the spring.
Botfest Robotic Education Programs	Botfest  provides an exhibition and fair that are open to robotics, technology, and art enthusiasts of all ages.  UML holds workshops to help teachers introduce robotics materials to their classrooms in a non-competitive way.
DESIGNCAMP	UMass Lowell's DESIGNCAMP is a summer science and engineering enrichment program that offers a wide range of hands on, project-based workshops for students in grades 5 through 11. Young people invent, experiment and problem solve by engaging in  projects such as  designing a security system for a bedroom, building a hot air balloon, programming a search-and-rescue robot, building a PVC pipe submarine and designing stereo speakers.
DESIGNLABS	The DESIGNLAB website has components that will help teachers and students. Teachers will find teacher guides, a discussion forum and tool safety videos. Students (coming soon) will find a chat environment at the Brain Storming Room where they can bounce ideas off each other.  Students can share their projects at the Idea Factory - possibly including a DESIGNLAB Hall of Fame for the favorite projects of users and the DESIGNLAB team.
iCODE/TechCreation	The Building an Internet Community of Design Engineers (iCODE) Program is a collaboration between the University of Massachusetts Lowell and Machine Science Inc. The iCODE project is funded by a three-year grant awarded in October 2006 by the National Science Foundation, under the agency's Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program. The iCODE project offers middle school and high school students from Boston and Lowell a year-long enrichment experience, encompassing an after-school program, weekend events, and a two-week summer immersion. Participating students complete a range of hands-on engineering projects, featuring microcontroller platforms developed by the principal investigators.
Lowell Regional Physics Alliance	The Lowell Regional Physics Alliance (LRPA) is an academic alliance between the UMass Lowell physics department and high-school science teachers throughout the region.  This alliance provides a forum where university and high school physics faculty can meet to share ideas, create workshops, share equipment and create a bond between industry and educators to stay current with new trends in physics.
Performamatics	Performamatics is a collaboration between the UMass Lowell Computer Science, Art, Music, and English departments in the area of exhibition and performance technologies. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation to revitalize undergraduate computer science education in ways that will both attract and help retain CS majors.  The common thread in performamatics projects is that many tasks, performed by multiple people, must come together on a tight schedule by a specific date to achieve a desired result.  Performamatics also implies that each team member must "perform" his or her task in a way that can be integrated into a final product, regard-less of whether that team member participates visibly in the culminating event. Interdisciplinary courses that pair CS with Art and Music students were taught in the 2007-08 academic year, and additional courses for CS, Art, and Theatre students will be added in 2008-09.
TEAMS Academy	TEAMS Academy development for FY07 is grant-funded by the Massachusetts Department of Education project STEM Pilot Program for Accelerated High School Students. Starting this fall, the Technology, Engineering and Math-Science (TEAMS) Academy will give academically advanced high school juniors and seniors in the Merrimack Valley region the opportunity to participate at UMass Lowell in creative, especially-designed college courses rich in applied math, science, and technology.  The courses will be college entry-level, allowing students to exercise and build upon the content knowledge that they are receiving through their high school programs.  The daily classes will be hands-on and project-based, taking advantage of the extensive laboratory resources of UMass Lowell.  The courses will work both within and across the technical disciplines, allowing students to explore applied concepts in a variety of STEM career fields that are normally reserved for college juniors and seniors.  Academy courses supplement, rather than replace, high school courses.