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2015 ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Math and Science Scholarship Recipients Announced

Earlier this week, four high school seniors were selected by the Council of the Great City Schools to receive a $5,000 scholarship courtesy of ExxonMobil for perspective students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

The organization focuses on the needs of students attending urban area schools. The organization is composed of 67 different urban school districts in the U.S. that serve as a network to solve common issues and exchange information and problem-solving methods.

On June 3, the 2015 ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Math and Science Scholarship were announced: Matthew Guillory from Robert A. Millikan High School in Long Beach, California, of the Unified School District; Sofia Kennedy from the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin, Texas, of the Independent School District; Summer Kollie of Girard Academic Music Program from School District of Philadelphia; and Nicolas Pena from Western High School of Broward County, Florida, Public Schools

The scholarship was created in 2010 by the first Black astronaut to walk in space, Dr. Bernard Harris. His foundation partnered up with ExxonMobil to give students in low-income districts a chance to prosper.

According to the executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, Michael Casserly, “these highly competitive scholarships provide an enormous opportunity for talented urban students to pursue STEM post-secondary studies and careers. The generous support of Dr. Harris and ExxonMobil contributes to the growth of these young men and women as they begin the next stage of their lives.”

After a long application process, Harris decides who will receive the scholarships.

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5 Remarkable Creations That Represent Africa’s Emerging Tech Industry

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Advanced High-Performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft

The AHRLAC is Africa’s first home-grown military aircraft, and it first took off on Aug 13, 2014, in Pretoria, South Africa. What makes this plane special is that it took three years to develop and is used for anti-poaching missions, border patrols, anti-trafficking, anti-piracy, anti-insurgent, as well as anti-terror operations. This is a major milestone in the continent’s aviation history.

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7 Black Innovators and Inventors in STEM Fields Who Blerds Should Know

Black innovators, scientists and inventors have made significant contributions in the science, technology, engineering and math fields. Each has added something special and unique to the STEM world and, for that reason, is worthy of recognition.

Here are seven scientist Blerds you should know about.

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Name: Dr. Shaundra B. Daily

Expertise: Educational Technologist

Contribution to Science: The MIT graduate was part of the team of researchers who developed Galvanic Skin Response bracelets, also referred to as GSR. The bracelets allow researchers to measure variations in emotional reactions. Humans tend to sweat when experiencing certain emotions and the GSR bracelets measure how much the wearer perspires.

Daily has always had an interest in understanding how people emote because she says for a long time she didn’t get emotions. On a segment of the Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers, Daily shares that when she was a little girl her mother threw her a surprise party and she didn’t emote. Her reaction was a simple, “Thank you.” “My mother described my temperament as flatline,” Daily says. This interest influenced Daily to understand how emotions can positively or negatively affect how a child learns.

Daily created  Girls Involved In Real Life Sharing (G.I.R.L.S.), creative and engaging software that helps measure emotion for young girls. The aim is to help them explore their emotions and then learn how to deal with them accordingly.

Not only is Daily a renowned educational technologist, but she is a dancer who has performed for Florida State University and BET.

 Agnes Day. Courtesy of Agnes Day

Name: Dr. Agnes Day

Expertise: Microbiology

Contribution to Science: The Howard University professor’s love of science began when she was a young girl exploring the wooded landscape of her hometown with her older brother.

After discovering plant life, insects and animals, they would head to the library to learn more about their findings. This love of natural science followed her throughout her life.

According to the Grio, while pursuing a graduate degree, Day secured a grant that amounted to $2.5 million. The grant was intended “to fund research that focused on mechanisms of drug resistance in fungi, the development of animal models of breast cancer, and molecular characterization of the aggressive phenotype of breast cancer in African-American women.”

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