Defense Contractor Raytheon to Target Education with Computer Modeling
If I hadn’t read it for myself, I would not have believed the news: Defense contractor, Raytheon, just completed the first-ever computer simulation and modeling tool to aid in policy making for the U.S. STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education system. This modeling tool is open-source and now in the possession of BHEF (Business-Higher Education Forum), as it was recently gifted by Raytheon; a move that shows how committed they are to making a positive impact on education in the U.S. and not typical of defense contractors.
The tool has been backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation from the onset, therefore funding will probably never be an issue. A strategic network has formed around it comprised of BHEF, the Battelle Center for Mathematics and Science Education Policy at Ohio State University (OSU), and Raytheon. The point of this alliance is to set standards and goals for the tool in the real world so that other institutions, specifically STEM-oriented universities, can effectively run their own models to determine what types of polices will help U.S. schools increase the number of students being prepared to enter careers in STEM fields. The model itself takes real world data, such as age, gender, standardized test scores, dropout rates, and other census bureau records, and mashes them up to create an environment where the researcher can implement different scenarios to test the validity of a given hypothesis.
This tool and its uses are a lot to take in if you are just a humble tech geek like myself, but I do understand enough about it to be excited about some key aspects of the project. The first is seeing a major for-profit defense contractor like Raytheon taking an interest in education. We could use more of this in the U.S. because, as we know, we are consistently out-performed by our global neighbors year after year in STEM-related fields. The second is seeing so many influential organizations backing open-source technologies that directly benefit education. Proprietary software that isn’t free to all of us has a place and will not become extinct, but when it comes to solving problems on a national or global level, software that is open-source turns more heads and gets more people involved. Getting the best techs in the industry focused on education can only create positive results.
Only time will tell if this tool will be successful in increasing the number of young people entering STEM-related jobs. I hope we haven’t seen the last of Raytheon and other private sector juggernauts getting involved with the education of our children. Maybe the next step is getting Microsoft, Apple, Dell, and HP in the same room to discuss how they can use this tool to collaborate on something that would help our students, instead of always working just hard enough to be this year’s best “productivity tool.”
Official Raytheon Announcement (PDF)
STEM Research and Modeling Network (SRMN)
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