Norco College STEM Pathways Program and Dr. Jason Parks invite you to apply to the
NASA California Space Grant Consortium Program. This program is a collaboration between
NASA, the University of California, San Diego and California Community Colleges. Twelve
Community Colleges have been selected to participate. The purpose of the program is
to enhance the STEM preparation at California Community Colleges resulting in increased
graduation rates and greater campus enrollments in STEM disciplines and to improve
a bridge opportunity for a maximum of 10 students per campus to a STEM major at a
four-year university. The vision is to develop a program for California Community
Colleges to expand and retain students’ interested in STEM. Teams will use micro‐computers
(Arduino) to teach hardware, programming, robotics, logic, and teamwork. The grant
partners with NASA and industry to provide monthly webinars and site tours.
Features of the Program are to Provide:
- Faculty Training (New Faculty)
- Student Training
- Student Team Projects
- NASA Webinars (Monthly)
Norco College's Jessiah Ruiz, Computer Science Professor is the faculty mentor who
will lead our student team. Ten students from our campus will be selected to participate
on the Norco College Space Grant team. This is an exciting opportunity for you to
develop your skills, discover your interests, collaborate with like-minded students
in a team environment, receive mentorship from STEM professionals and learn how to
navigate NASA internships. These projects will be centered around the use of low-cost
programmable microcomputers to collect, store, and transmit in-field sensor and GPS
locator data, as well as drive a controller. For the Fall 2021 Program, the broad
focus of these projects is either (1) Artemis, or (2) Environmental Science. The specific
project will be selected by the students and the faculty mentor.
Eligibility Requirements:
- *U. S. Citizenship
- *18 years of age
- *Registered and enrolled at Norco College for Spring 2022 (Norco College is your home campus)
- *STEM Major (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) or Interest in becoming a STEM Major
- *Concurrent enrollment or completion of 9+ units of STEM coursework
- *Able to commit to the November 10, 2021 to January 14, 2021 online project, in-person assembly, team sessions and NASA webinars
- *Must have internet access
- *Proof of full vaccination is necessary to participate. Must be approved via the Cleared4 App
- *Upload an unofficial transcript that provides the following: your name, your school’s name, current enrollment, 9 units of STEM coursework (pdf document)
The project timeline is from November 10, 2021 to January 14, 2022 and provides each student participant with a $500 scholarship award at the culmination of the program. Only students who are U.S. citizens will be able to receive these scholarship awards. Students who are non-U.S. citizens may participate in the program, but will not be eligible for the award. If the student drops out of the program before completion, the student will not receive the scholarship. The deadline to apply is Sunday, November 7, 2021 at 11:59 pm. Accepted students will be notified on November 10, 2021 via email. I highly encourage you to apply to this opportunity and add this NASA experience to your future STEM career!