Online

Visit bradley.edu/centerfor
stemeducation for more information.

From sponsoring a rocket engineering camp for high school students to offering master’s degrees in science teaching, Bradley University offers a number of programs for improving literacy in STEM — an acronym for science, technology, engineering, and math. Recently, those special programs, camps, and courses became part of Bradley’s new Center for STEM Education.

“As a school administrator for 30 years prior to coming to Bradley, it was well known in the Illinois education community that Bradley was a leader in the STEM fields,” said Dr. Mike Risen, the center’s co-director. “It is our vision that the new center will become a center of national distinction in the STEM fields.”

In addition to preparing educators to teach math, science, engineering, and technology, the center seeks to increase the scientific literacy of all Bradley students. A top goal is to address the shortage of qualified educators in STEM subjects. Students will be recruited for the programs — especially those from under-represented groups, such as minorities and women. The center will continue to offer outreach programs designed to help schoolchildren and others learn more about science.

Summer internships for high school students to work as science researchers, a chemistry contest, and several camps are just a handful of the outreach programs. Over the past decade, Bradley has received more than $2.5 million in external funding for STEM efforts.

“If we are to remain competitive in an integrated, global economy, and if our young people are going to thrive in the 21st century, they truly need the problem-solving and thinking skills that are inherent in science and mathematics,” said Bradley President Joanne Glasser.

The advisory board for the Center for STEM Education includes four area school superintendents, as well as representatives from the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora, the University of Illinois, Illinois Central College, City Colleges of Chicago, and the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Peoria.

Lakeview Museum, the new Quest Charter Academy, Peoria NEXT, and the USDA Research Lab are also represented on the board, along with Tri-County Urban League, Society of Women Engineers, University of Illinois Extension, and Washington Gifted School.

Winner for 2010

Online

Visit springboard.
bradley.edu for more information.

Toldmi, an online application students can use to create a list of local events and activities targeted toward their interests, won the fourth annual Project Springboard business plan competition in April.

The team, consisting of MIKE LUCHIES ’10, SUSWARA GAYAM ’10 and graduate student RAVINDER PUNIA, won the grand prize, valued at more than $120,000. In addition to a $10,000 cash prize and $15,000 in seed capital, the team receives one year of “knowledge capital,” including marketing, accounting, and technology advice. Their project was selected from six finalists.

Placing second, Evening’s Empire Recording Company aims to provide an affordable way for musicians to access the resources necessary to gain exposure in the music industry. The team is made up of JARED BARTMAN ’10, STEPHANIE MEYER ’11, ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ ’11, MAX KERR ’10, and SEAN CAIRNS ’13. They received a $7,500 award.

BU sales team takes sixth at nationals

By SARAH HALLSTEIN ’12

Online

Watch videos of the winners at coles.kennesaw.
edu/ncsc.

BU sales team

Members of the Bradley professional sales team, from left: Dr. Jason Garrett (coach), MAX LANE ’10, BETH SCHAFER ’10 and DAN SHORT ’10 display their awards at the National Collegiate Sales Competition.

Devoting more than 20 hours a week to any extracurricular activity isn’t easy. For the Bradley professional sales team, the hard work paid off when the team took sixth place in March at the National Collegiate Sales Competition (NCSC) at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.

The contest consisted of five rounds of sales calls judged by business professionals and professors and featured the top undergraduate talent from 61 competitive sales programs. As individuals, DAN SHORT ’10 and MAX LANE ’10 placed in the top 16. “The size of the event this year was the largest one ever, with about 120 students competing,” said Dr. Jason Garrett, coach and assistant professor of marketing.

The team has a strong history at the NCSC, boasting top-six finishes in four of the last six years. One of these top finishes includes the 2006 national championship in which the duo of SIMON SARRAF ’06 and STEPHANIE LINDER ’06 received first-place honors.

“There used to be mostly smaller schools, but there are quite a few state schools that are in this competition now,” Garrett said. “Bradley has still been able to compete very well with the larger universities.”

The schools that finished in front of Bradley at the undergraduate level included University of Washington, Florida State, and Bowling Green State University, which took first place.

Other members of the Bradley team were BETHANY SCHAFER ’10 and DAN KAHNE ’11. The team was determined based on the results of the Bradley Sales Contest last December. The students came back early from Winter Break and spent many hours each week preparing themselves for the competition.