Education & Community Outreach

Science and engineering education is the cornerstone of global technological progress and leadership. Traditional educational forums serve to provide the groundwork for such learning but are often strained to offer specialized, targeted, and invigorating programs that open a student's eyes to the promise of tomorrow. Whether a third grader or a thirty-year corporate veteran, the journey of scientific discovery benefits students of all ages and serves to broaden society's understanding and respect for the impact of technological innovation.

Starboard recognizes that there is a considerable gap between the innovation process and public understanding. While scientists and engineers focus on exploration and discovery, educators and community partners are busy teaching established theories and notions. There is a continuous stream of innovation that the greater population will never hear about because there simply is not a formal mechanism in place to bridge this gap in real time. Yet generating scientific excitement requires a finger on the pulse of modernization and advancement.

That is why Starboard partners with corporations, schools, and government agencies to serve as a technological liaison. Through university mentoring partnerships, primary school space education programs, engineering design competitions, short-course development and myriad other specialized initiatives, Starboard designs unique approaches to reaching all interested parties and spreading the promise and excitement of science.

Starboard's three-prong strategy, described below, acts as a springboard for the advancement of thoughtful scientific dialogue and aims to reach all members of the greater community in the dissemination of science and engineering-based success stories; our goal is to contribute to ensuring that the cycle of invention and innovation continues.
    

Starboard's 3-Pronged Approach:

1. Raise awareness of past and present technological breakthroughs through specialized educational programs in both formal and informal venues
       • Augment current educational offerings to generate excitement and wonder
       • Highlight quality of life improvements as spin-offs of scientific research
       • Trace and explain the trail of innovation, from science project to home standard

2. Inspire today's youth to be at the vanguard of world technological leadership
       • Show where current technology is heading
       • Remove barriers to technological curiosity
       • Make science fun

3. Reach all levels of interest
       • Identify and communicate new applications for technology to interest holders
       • Develop modules designed for targeted professional development
       • Design lectures to stimulate interest in new technologies
       • Put science and engineering in the forefront of the public's imagination