years. Another is to achieve meaningful industry engagement in all 50 states. AIA and a partner organization, the National Defense Indus-
trial Association, have been conducting joint quarterly work- force meetings around the country since 2007. We began this practice to inform ourselves about what aerospace and defense companies were doing in their local communities to support
Associations involved in the Business and Industry STEM Education Coalition and representatives from their member companies are invited to attend the meetings planned by AIA and NDIA. By the same token, we urge our member com- panies to participate in state STEM meetings convened by other groups for the same purpose of driving convergence, collaboration and alignment among the array of stakehold-
AIA’s signature STEM program is the Team America Rocketry Challenge, the world’s largest model rocket contest. ... To date, more than 55,000 students from across the country have participated.
STEM. Since 2010 we have structured these meetings to provide opportunities for our local member company representatives to engage with the emerging STEM network and other stakeholders in the state. With keynote speakers, special presentations and breakout discussions, we seek to generate collaborative efforts that will be more systemic, effective and impactful.
ers. For 2012, meetings in Indiana, Washington, Tennessee and California are scheduled and others may be organized. We are already considering nominations for states in which to convene in 2013. News about these meetings and other BISEC events and projects, along with multi-media messages and other