By Lauren Pafumi, FLC Midwest Region As noted elsewhere in this issue, in early 2007, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) signed an Educational Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), which provides scholarships to students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The EPA was designed to employ qualified college juniors and seniors as summer interns in AFRL Technical Directorates. In 2008, the AFRL's 711th Human Performance Wing (HPW), which was operating as the Human Effectiveness Directorate at the time, signed an EPA with the TMCF that built on an agreement already in place between the TMCF and AFRL headquarters. This second EPA resulted in a program under which interns worked at the 711th HPW facilities, assisting AFRL staff with ongoing research projects. In 2008, 11 qualifying student interns, university-level juniors and seniors, were matched with Technical Directorates within the AFRL. The Human Effectiveness Directorate's interns worked on a project that used commercial off-the-shelf gaming technology to develop an interactive military flight simulator. A detailed story about the technology can be found at http://www.flcmidwest.org/spring2009_06.html. Ed Lee, Deputy Chief of External Programs at the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), reports that the students found both the research experience and the interaction with research professionals rewarding. Some students have now entered the workforce with experience working at a federal laboratory already under their belts. AFRL considers the partnership a success because the organization completed several successful projects while simultaneously providing the students with career-building opportunities, and takes pride in its contribution to increasing the quality of the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workforce at a time when the importance of STEM is growing. The AFRL staff enjoyed the opportunity to mentor young people entering the research field. According to Lee, "Most students we've been looking to place were already on STEM career paths. We're just taking what they've acquired in the classroom and giving them the opportunity to practice their skills in the lab." In March 2009, Lee represented AFRL's internship program at the TMCF Member Universities Professional Institute and Exhibition (MUPIE) in New Orleans. MUPIE brings together participants in the TMCF to provide professional development, idea sharing and training for the key decision makers of America's public HBCUs; foster partnerships among academia, government and industry; and help students develop the skills for STEM careers. Lee participated in a panel titled "STEM—The Next Generation," where he spoke with students about on-boarding their careers into STEM fields. He believes that some of the students he met during his panel will be motivated to apply for internships with AFRL during the program's next cycle. Although not repeated in 2009, the internship program will continue—and likely expand—in summer 2010. AFRL plans to double the number of students placed in the Technical Directorates. Interested students must apply for the program with Crystal Hadnott of TMCF (713-529-6400, Crystal.hadnott@tmcfund.org) beginning in November 2009. The list of qualified students will be distributed to the AFRL Technical Directorates in early 2010.
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