Projo.com: Local Robotics Team Is Model for Navy to Increase Applied-Science Education

Projo.com's Washington, D.C. bureau recently caught up with the leader of the at a two-day forum near the Pentagon where teachers, technology experts and Navy officials met to discuss strengthening America's education system in the area of applied sciences and technology.

Along with educators from URI, the forum brought together community leaders like Tom Dolan, a graduate and local engineer at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport. Dolan now leads the Aquidneck Island Robotics (AIR) team comprised of youth from Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth who apply science, math and technology lessons learned in school to compete in nationwide robotics competitions.

In May, the First Robotics Competition (FRC) team 78, AIR Strike, amongst 352 teams at the FRC World Championship in St. Louis, MO.

Click here to read more from Projo.com's interview of Dolan, along with other Rhode Islanders, as they discuss how local educators are forming community partnerships to strengthen educational opportunities both inside and outside the classroom for “STEM”—today's buzz-word for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

According to the Projo.com article, the U.S. ranks 27th among industrialized nations when calculating the numbers of scholars who seek college degrees in those disciplines.