The NT-NSC engages with the local community through outreach activities to K-12 students and the local community, through visits, field trips and summer camps, which include outreach to underrepresented groups in STEM.
One-week long summer camps for high school students in the North Texas region have been initiated to attract and mentor these students in the STEM areas and engage them in hands-on activities in interdisciplinary laboratory settings. The camps are led by PI Kaul with assistance from her faculty collaborators. Undergraduates and graduate students serve as event coordinators and help coordinate the activities for the students during the summer. A multi-tiered mentoring approach, with the engagement from faculty, staff and peers is used.
The field-trips for local-area middle school students have been initiated for students in the North Texas region to visit UNT's College of Engineering at Discovery Park. The NT-NSC team will coordinate efforts to host students from multiple schools to expose them to a laboratory environment and engage them in engineering and STEM. Naval perspectives will be infused into these field trips, wherever possible.
In April 2023, middle and high school students flocked from regional schools in Denton,
Argyle, Irving, and Frisco to attend the UNT-ONR STEM field trips held at the University
of North Texas' Discovery Park campus. Over 3 days, 136 students worked in four College
of Engineering laboratories and interacted with graduate and undergraduate student
mentors to engage in hands- on activities in the fields of electronic materials, biomimetics & extracellular environments,
metal & alloy development, as well as molecular self-assembly. When the event came
to a close, and students clamored into busses and vans, they departed with a new curiosity
and passion for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; imagining the possibilities
of what a future in STEM might hold for them.
Outreach to students enlisted in the Navy JROTC program is an important component of the NT-NSC. We will continue to conduct STEM activities and programs catering to Navy JROTC students in Hebron High School in the North Texas Region.
High school students can also benefit from internship opportunities provided at Naval facilities through the Navy's Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (SEAP). The SEAP program is also coordinated by the American Society of Engineering Education.