NASA

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ut NASA SHARP PLUS

The NASA Summer High School Apprenticeship Research Program (SHARP) PLUS is a
research-based mentorship program that was initiated in 1993. It is conducted by the QEM Network for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This program is an eight week residential program for high school students which begins on June 14, 1998 and will end August 8,1998.
SHARP PLUS offers a select group of approximately 240 underrepresented high school students, with aptitude and interest in science and engineering, the opportunity to participate in an intensive summer apprenticeship program.

SHARP PLUS HOST SITES:

SHARP PLUS is hosted by major colleges and universities nationwide. The students live on the institutions' campuses (about 20 at each site) and work with researchers/mentors at nearby industrial sites or in research laboratories at the institutions in which cutting-edge research is being conducted. The twelve hosting sites of the 1998 SHARP PLUS program are:

California State University at Los Angeles
Cornell University
Hampton University
Morgan State University
Norfolk State University
North Carolina A&T State University
North Carolina Central University
Southern University at Baton Rouge
Texas A&M University
University of Cincinnati
University of New Mexico
University of Wisconsin-Madison

SHARP PLUS college/university host sites are institutions with a demonstrated commitment to high quality MSE education for all students. Coordination and supervision at each college/university site is provided by a SHARP PLUS faculty coordinator and his/her staff.

OBJECTIVES:

To increase the participation and success rates of students who are underrepresented in mathematics and science pre-college courses, with the intent of increasing their participation and success in mathematics and science, thereby increasing the pool of such students as mathematics, science, and engineering majors in college and, hence, their representation among prospective science and engineering professionals available for the workplace.

SHARP PLUS aims to establish individual working relationships between students and active researchers in aerospace-related fields, and to strengthen the nation's and the government's efforts to recruit and sustain underrepresented students in science and engineering fields. The Program offers aerospace-focused researchers and other science and engineering professionals the opportunity to serve as mentors to such students (16 years of age or older) who are rising eleventh and twelfth graders with interest and potential in science and engineering.

FINAL PRESENTATION:

During their eight-week SHARP PLUS research experiences, apprentices work with industry- or university-based mathematics, science, and engineering (MSE) professionals and engage in "hands-on" research.
After this apprenticeship, the students prepare reports and make oral presentations under the careful supervision of a SHARP PLUS Faculty Coordinator and staff at each host institution. Students also prepare written final reports on their research that is submitted to NASA and will be required to participate in a community service-focused Academic Year Project upon their return to school in the fall.