Virtual STEM Night Planned For BCPS Students April 25

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — Two Western School of Technology juniors have created an opportunity for all Baltimore County Public Schools students in 3rd through 12 grades to chat with STEM professionals and learn more about the Oregon Ridge Nature Center, the National Aquarium, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s Dinosaur Park, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The students behind the upcoming Virtual STEM Night are Eeshani Gupta and Nisttha Ray. Both attend Western Tech’s Academy of Health Professions magnet program and are co-presidents of the Baltimore chapter of the national nonprofit STEM Without Boundaries.

“In a developing world, it’s important that students of all ages know how the STEM disciplines correlate to their everyday lives,” Ray said. “Through this event, students will have the opportunity to meet different professionals specializing in these different fields as well as to be introduced to 21st century technology that will be part of their future jobs.”

“My co-president and I are doing this STEM night because we want to provide students of all ages with the necessary exposure to motivate them to pursue a career in the STEM field. We want to put together successful and informative events where attendees learn about different STEM careers, fields and experiences while also giving back to our community through a set of disciplines we are passionate about," Gupta added.

The free event will take place April 25 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Students are asked to register online and will be able to access the event on Zoom.

The following event agenda features links to event sessions:
Opening ceremony – 2 p.m.
Session 1 – 2:25 p.m. - Anjali Chadha, MIT bioengineering student, nonprofit founder and researcher at MIT Synthetic Biology Center OR Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s Dinosaur Park
Session 2 – 3 p.m. - Dr. Lataisia Jones, American Society for Microbiology scientist and Ethics Fellow OR U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Session 3 – 3:35 p.m. - Dr. Jessica Taaffe, global health scientist OR National Aquarium
Session 4 – 4:10 p.m. - Dr. Harshini Mukundan, Los Alamos National Laboratory team leader/Deputy group leader OR Oregon Ridge Nature Park
Closing Ceremony and Announcements – 4:45 p.m.