By MC2 Victoria Ochoa

A team of summer interns working with NPS’ Space Systems Academic Group presents their research project during the Monterey Bay Summer Research Symposium at California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB), Aug. 12. The symposium highlighted the STEM – or science, technology, engineering and mathematics – research of nearly 100 interns through summer programs at NPS, CSUMB and Hartnell College.

“This event, held at CSUMB, is an opportunity to showcase their research,” said Warren Yu, chief learning officer at NPS’ Cebrowski Institute, who stressed the critical importance of STEM education on a national scale. “It boils down to three things … STEM helps create jobs, helps improve our national education system, and it helps create a just and inclusive society, specifically for women and under-represented minorities.”

NPS had maintained an informal internship program for years, but began significantly expanding its efforts in 2013 through partnerships with regional institutions, and the Office of Naval Research. This year, a total of 92 interns from five different programs spent approximately 8-10 weeks on campus, working on the very same research endeavors the university’s faculty and students do.

“The Department of Navy understands the current reality, and has put together several programs to help our current scientists and engineers pass down their knowledge to inspired young students,” said Alison Kerr, STEM Internship Coordinator.

“We have had tremendous growth in our college and graduate internship programs through the U.S. Navy’s Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program,” added Yu. “We have also had a huge contingent of high school students this year, part of what made our program so big.”