What's new at SET?

Community outreach is an integral part of the culture and curriculum at St. Mary's. Here are some photos from some recent events that get school children excited about science.

Students at the Pre-Health Professions Fair met representatives from professional schools in health care fields such as medicine, dentistry, nursing, chiropractic, optometry, physical therapy, respiratory care and public health.

Students at the fair visit with professional school representatives.

About 500 middle school-aged girls attended the Expanding Your Horizons conference in January.

The one-day event on campus helped boost girls' interest science, technology, engineering and math careers.

Girls worked with local professionals and volunteers in hands-on workshops.

Workshops dealt with topics including animal training, pharmaceuticals, DNA and music copyright.

Fiesta of Physics uses interactive experiments to teach area elementary school children to appreciate science.

The program seeks to inspire children from low-income families to pursue higher education.

St. Mary's physics and science students lead most of the experiments.

Not only do the children learn about science, the leaders learn about teaching and the value of community service.

SET Happenings

Alumna Leading National Science Organization

Kristine M. Garza, Ph.D, a 1991 graduate of St. Mary’s University, has been named executive director of the Society for Advancement of Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). SACNAS is a national nonprofit with a 39-year history of fostering the success of Hispanic/Chicano and Native American scientists by encouraging them to attain advanced degrees, careers and positions of leadership in the scientific world and academia.

Keck Foundation Awards $250,000 for Robotics Lab

The W.M. Keck Foundation has awarded St. Mary’s University a $250,000 grant to enhance undergraduate engineering education and research through significant upgrades to the School of Science, Engineering and Technology’s Automated Manufacturing and Robotics Laboratory (AMRL).

MARC Program Scores Again

For the fourth consecutive year, a St. Mary’s University program designed to guide talented minority students in the School of Science, Engineering and Technology into graduate research programs has made a perfect score.

PREP Students Awarded $4 Million in Scholarships

St. Mary’s University has offered scholarships worth up to $4 million total to 229 exceptional middle and high school students from the San Antonio area. The students all participated this summer in the San Antonio Prefreshmen Engineering Program (PREP), a program providing extra math and science coursework to promising students. PREP is held at various locations in San Antonio; the students at the St. Mary’s site were completing their third year of the program.