As a non-profit, when it comes to business we must never lose sight of the bigger picture. The UNH-IOL strives to lead the industry as a premier testing facility that employs and prepares students for careers in technology, however there is a greater call to action that goes hand in hand with this. Because we are so passionate about filling the industry’s engineering pipeline, it’s crucial that we excite and set up the engineers of tomorrow with the tools for a successful future. At the forefront of these efforts we’ve started our own IOL Foundation with it’s main purpose to financially support costs that allow us to broaden our reach and impact for youth in the K-12 community for education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
We aim to provide a path that enables all students to enter industry as technical leaders. Students leave our programs with a top quality education and specialty training, and we’ve found that starting at an early age yields best results. To maximize our STEM outreach efforts, we make underserved or underrepresented students a priority. In the last year our outreach impacted over 1,500 students, this year we’ve expanded our offerings with the addition of community workshops. Each year we continue to increase the number of female applicants to the UNH-IOL’s flagship STEM program, our High School Summer Internship. We currently plan to host and have funding for 12 interns for summer 2016, with a goal of 20 interns by FY20 and a more balanced number of female applicants. UNH-IOL STEM programs such as these develop important entrepreneurial skills that bridge students into industry with real-world applications.
Clearly, the IOL Foundation serves as more than your typical charity. Donations greatly aid us in current efforts and exploring new innovative events and programs to excite kids. The UNH-IOL views itself as a resource that can expand with funding and impact the K-12 community, not only locally but at a national level as well.
A long time partner and major supporter has been Verizon. This year the Verizon Foundation granted a donation for our outreach, totaling $10,000, and their engineer staff has been instrumental in engaging our future engineers. We’ve been fortunate enough to explore Verizon’s Innovation Center on exclusive site visits through the High School Summer Internship Program for many years. We hope to grow our pool of industry role models and financial supporters such as Verizon. Their willingness to work with students enthusiastically, and in a mentor-like fashion, really exemplifies what the internship is all about. The demand for more challenging work from the students is here and we need to provide opportunities for them to face and solve the problems of today.
Learn more about how you can support the IOL Foundation in our STEM Outreach efforts.