“The Triple Helix” Project at RPI

creative, original
adoptable, replicable
promises impact, influence
inspires, motivates change
paradigm shifting, game changing

Why is it innovative?
Allows graduate students to apply their science and engineering research to (i) help solve problems facing local communities, such as health, poverty, pollution, and crime, (ii) help communities take better advantage of their local resources in culture or social capital.

More Information

From rpi news, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Professor Receives $2.9 Million NSF Grant To Support Innovative Approach to Teaching and Learning STEM Disciplines, June 17, 2010:

Rising concern about America’s ability to maintain its competitive position in the global economy has renewed interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. The challenge, according to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Science and Technology Studies Professor Ron Eglash, is that minority students are often disinterested in STEM academics because they do not see its relevance to their own lives and communities.

To provide a solution, Eglash has received a five-year, $2.9 million National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant to support the development of “The Triple Helix” project that is dedicated to producing “civic scientists.” The grant will fund up to eight graduate fellows from Rensselaer. They will focus on STEM research projects related to community-based issues. These issues including health, the environment, poverty, crime, and information access within the Capital Region…

“As we move forward with this project, our activities will instill graduate STEM fellows with a greater awareness of the connections between their research disciplines and pressing social issues, and provide them with the training to communicate these connections to the public,” he added. “The fellows’ top priority is to collaborate with the middle school teachers in developing STEM lessons, and to actively participate in the teaching. The second priority is to provide the teachers with some experiences at Rensselaer that will include working in a lab for a few days over the summer. The third priority is to meet with the community activists and STS grads to think about how the STEM research might be applied to some of the community problems or resources.”