By Lenka Kollar

One of my classmates from INSEAD recently launched a Kickstarter campaign for Cannybots, toy robots designed to teach kids how to program and tinker in a playful way.

I'm really excited for Cannybots to make their way to schools and students' homes to inspire young kids to to be creative while building and playing with something. By making programming and tinkering fun, kids will develop their analytical capabilities without even realizing it, and maybe even be inspired to study and pursue careers in STEM!

As a child, I loved to play with Legos and puzzles, and I think those early days of building and solving things led me to be interested in engineering.  Back then, all of the Legos and other building toys were "boy oriented" so it's very valuable that Cannybots is unisex and appealing to all kids. 

To see how Cannybots work and to contribute to their campaign, check out the Kickstarter page!

By Lenka Kollar

During my MBA at INSEAD, I've had the chance to take classes at the Abu Dhabi campus and do projects related to the UAE's move towards a knowledge-based economy. In order to have a sustainable industry based on technology and innovation, a trained workforce is needed to feed it. Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education is crucial to foster a culture of innovation. Students have to gain interest in STEM at an early level to then choose to study it at university and form a career in STEM.

While in Abu Dhabi last week, I participated in the Google STEM Forum, also hosted by the Al Bayt Mitwahid Association. The was event aimed at bringing policymakers, technology companies, educators and non-profits together to promote innovation in science and technology through partnerships in education, programs, and research. (Read more about the event here.)

My INSEAD classmate, David Nothacker, and I had the opportunity to present our class project on STEM, in which we analyzed the culture, education, infrastructure, incentives, industry, and governance of STEM in different countries. We derived best practices from each of these levers to gain insights for Abu Dhabi and the UAE in transitioning towards a knowledge-based economy.

We also learned about the STEM education initiatives of Google in the region. In particular, they established an innovation hub in partnership with Al Bayt Mitwahid that gives students an opportunity to gain hands-on experience with robotics. This fosters a culture of innovation and gets kids excited about studying science and technology and pursuing careers in these fields. The video below sends a very inspiring message.

This was a very exciting project and experience for me because I'm very passionate about revitalizing STEM education and I've worked on nuclear science outreach to students in the U.S. I'm primarily concerned about the diversity of students in STEM, especially women. It's great to see that the government, industry, and schools are working together to get kids excited about science.

By Lenka Kollar

The Focus on Communications Workshop held on June 19 at the 2014 American Nuclear Society Annual Meeting posed the question: “What will it take to move nuclear energy forward?” Mimi Limbach of the Potomac Communications Group covered some very interesting poll data and facilitated a conversation on how to move nuclear energy forward through effective communication.

Read more on the ANS Nuclear Cafe...

By Lenka Kollar

Engaging the public in an open dialogue can be one of the most essential elements in explaining complex scientific topics, such as nuclear science. Community and policymaker support are critical for the ongoing successful operations of nuclear plants and other nuclear facilities. Engineers and scientists are in a unique position to be credible leaders and effectively communicate about nuclear energy and technology. 

Organizations, such as the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), communicate with their surrounding communities in a proactive way rather than a reactive way responding only in emergency scenarios. Nicole Stricker, nuclear communications lead at INL, focuses on giving employees tools based on factual information that they can engage the public with. Scientists and engineers are trained to speak to the public to explain research and operations activities to the local community. 

Harsh Desai, ANS Congressional Fellow, noted that, “less than 2% of science is utilized in making a policy, so we need to make sure that that 2% is communicated correctly.” Policymakers have unlimited access to information and scientists and engineers should be actively reaching out to legislators with factual information on nuclear energy and other nuclear technologies. Desai encouraged scientists and engineers to form relationships with their Congressional representative, as well as their staff in order to be a credible source of information. 

The “Focus on Communications” panel was convened at the 2014 American Nuclear Society (ANS) Annual Meeting in Reno, NV.

By Lenka Kollar

I first heard about science communicator Emily Graslie when her Where My Ladies At? video went viral last year. I immediately became a fan of her awesome YouTube channel, The Brain Scoop, which takes you inside of the amazing scientific research going on at the Field Museum in Chicago. Emily was the guest speaker at the monthly meeting of the Field Museum Women In Science group open to the public so I was sure to attend!

Emily began her talk on "The Importance of Science Role Models in the Media" with a discussion of her female science role models growing up. The first being her mom, a successful medical doctor, and the second, Ms. Frizzle from the book series and animated show, The Magic School Bus. I was also a big fan of Ms. Frizzle and her class, along with other science shows, such as Bill Nye the Science Guy. But Emily made an excellent point, that there really were not any real female science role models in the media when we were growing up and that they are still scarce.

The problem is that the scientist stereotype is a guy with crazy eyes wearing a lab coat staring at a bubbling chemical inside of a laboratory (as illustrated above). In reality, scientists also work outside in the field and analyze data on computers. They are not crazy, but rather curious. They also wear normal clothes and have families and lives outside of the laboratory. They work at universities, research institutions, large and small companies, and even independently. But the media portrays scientists in a certain way that they think the public wants to see.

Stereotyping inhibits science communication because diversity is lacking. A diverse population wants to get information from diverse sources. More female science role models would also encourage more young women to pursue science. 

Emily Graslie suggests that we do the following to help:

The Nuclear Literacy Project is celebrating Earth Day with a month-long campaign to create memes "inspired by the intersections of nuclear energy, the environment and social justice." You can search for the memes submitted on social media with the tag #Atoms4Earth on Twitter and Facebook. Here are the ones submitted by Nuclear Undone!

There's a great mix of serious, inspiring, and funny memes created for #Atoms4Earth. Check out the Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, and Grand Prize winners!

Have you seen this Periodic Table of the Elements categorized by country location of discovery? This image was created by science communicator Jamie Gallagher by The Smithsonian. 

From Jamie Gallagher:

By Mark Reed

While researching an obscure topic related to my doctoral thesis, I happened upon multiple references to a 1969 paper in Kernenergie - an academic journal published in the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), or East Germany.

Typically, this is every academic’s nightmare – an obscure paper published behind the Iron Curtain a quarter century before the internet in a country that no longer exists. Fortunately, I had an inroad. I emailed a German relative who lives in Weimar and manages IT at the University of Jena. He walked into the library basement and scanned me a copy!

Not only was the paper valuable for my research, but it also made me think; Kernenergie. English, or Anglo-Saxon, is a Germanic language. Kern is the root of kernel, as in a kernel of corn. So in German, “nuclear” is “kernel”.

My next thought was, “Well, that’s interesting. I’m sure kern(el) has different overtones in German, but the English connotation is just so weaksauce – such a contrast with the fearsome connotation of nuclear. Hey, what if we started referring to ‘nuclear energy’ as ‘kernel energy’?”

Nuclear energy has a perception problem, and a large swath of that problem stems from the word nuclear – its place in our history, its media hype, and its resulting connotation. The word has been poisoned. So what if we simply chose a more benign (but equally suitable) word? How would that one superficial alteration – a mere word – change public perception of “kernel technology”?

Instead of imagining bombs and mushroom clouds, people would think of popcorn. If it sounds like something we put it in our mouths, it can’t be that bad. How much more would the public approve of new “kernel plants”? 

Some may view such rebranding as nothing more than cynical politics – manipulating words to “trick” the public. I don’t disagree, but unfortunately, this is how the game is played. Whether we like it or not, nuclear energy is a political issue, and in politics, every word is poll-tested. There’s a reason why “civil unions” preceded “marriage”, and there’s also a reason why “nuclear energy” is more popular than “nuclear power”. Words matter.

Of course, there would inevitably be drawbacks. “Kernel engineering” wouldn’t be nearly so sexy. The “danger” would be gone. We nuclear engineers would lose some of our debonair, James-Bond-like charm - the hallmark of our profession. Nevertheless, even the most prolific “nuclear rakes” would be compelled to sacrifice some of their charisma for the betterment of mankind through clean, sustainable energy.

By Lenka Kollar

In today's economy, it is easy to convince someone to become an engineer just by telling them that they will find a stable job and make a good income. However, this argument does not work for everyone, particularly women. Most women are not motivated by their paycheck, but rather by their accomplishments and the people they help along the way. Women are much more likely to choose careers in which they are directly helping people, such as nursing, teaching, and social work. While these are good and important careers, the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields are missing out on the talents of women and their motivation to help people.

I've organized and participated in many nuclear science and STEM outreach events to young students, including female-only events such as "Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day" and Girls Scouts nuclear science badge events. In our career presentations we always make the point of the stable and high-paying jobs that the STEM fields can provide, but we miss making the connection to the huge humanitarian and social impact that an engineer or scientist can make. 

One of my friends recently told me a story of a brother and a sister who wanted the same goal of impacting the world in a positive way. The sister was concerned about the impact of oil drilling on the environment and studied policy in college and then worked for a think tank trying to change the policies for oil drilling. She worked hard but was only mildly successful. Her brother, on the other hand, studied engineering in college and ended up working for an oil company where he developed a tool that allowed oil to be more efficiently extracted with less environmental impact. Inadvertently, he had a much bigger influence on the very problems his sister was trying to solve with policy. His sister could have easily also used her talents and motivation to solve environmental problems technically instead of with policy. 

This story is a perfect example of how women do not realize that they can impact people's lives in a positive way with a technical degree and job. This is probably due to the fact that the creators of a technology do not usually experience the impact of their technology on people's lives as you do in a career where are are directly working with the customer, such as in nursing. But the problems that engineers solve and the things that they create help people everyday. Bridges, planes, medicine, computers, electricity all improve people's lives. But the connection between the actual people (not company) that made the technology and the users of the technology is missing, which is why women don't realize how much they can help humanity in the STEM fields.

This connection of helping people needs to be made in order to convince girls to become engineers. The propaganda above is taken from the front page of the White House initiative for Women in STEM. Salary should not be a focus for getting more women into STEM. It's not that women don't care about money, it's that salary isn't their number one motivator for picking a career. Women want to have careers in which they can improve people's lives. We need to show young girls just how much you can change the world for the better as an engineer or scientist.

I chose to be a nuclear engineer because I wanted to impact the world in a positive way by solving our energy needs. Why did you chose your current career?

Written by Lenka Kollar

Emily Graslie is a science communicator and the Chief Curiosity Correspondent at The Field Museum. In her YouTube channel, The Brain Scoop, Emily explores everything fascinating at the museum and even dissects things! Her episodes are interesting, fun, and educational. She was recently asked about Women in STEM and made a video responding to abusive comments that she's received, including comments about her body and appearance. Comments like these discourage women from being in situations in which they can be scrutinized, especially in a male-dominated field. We want people to focus on our content and not looks. However, it is ingrained in our society that women are supposed to be attractive. 

Although women's rights have made major strides in the last century, sexism still exists, and men feel like they have nothing to contribute to this conversation. But as Emily says, "it starts with an acknowledgement from both men and women that these are serious issues that need to be discussed." Women in STEM are are a minority and technical women in the public setting are an even greater minority. How can we start the discussion of encouraging more women to study science and also educate the public?

Follow Emily Graslie and The Brain Scoop on Facebook and Twitter.