STEM Education
Be WorldsAhead Today’s students are creating the future. Worlds Ahead is an attitude, one that commands each of us to think differently, exceed expectations and create new possibilities. It’s what we challenge our students to become. At FIU, our students are surrounded by the educational and career opportunities needed to achieve their dreams. Award-winning faculty. State-of-the-art research facilities. A diverse student body. An incomparable location in one of America’s most exciting cities.
Here education doesn’t stop at the edge of campus. South Florida is a living laboratory. Our students immerse themselves in the lessons of our local communities. From the seagrass of the Atlantic Ocean to the sawgrass of the Everglades, from the boardrooms of downtown Miami to the operating rooms of area hospitals, our students explore a breathtaking array of real-life opportunities inside and outside the classroom. We challenge them to think differently. Go beyond what is expected. Take the opportunity they’re given and do something great with it. Be WorldsAhead.
STEM Education at FIU Graduates of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)-related programs are in high demand. In fact, a report by the U.S. Department of Labor identified STEM-related careers as some of the highest paying and reported they have the greatest potential for job growth through 2018. With this in mind, we’ve built upon our current research excellence in STEM-related disciplines and expanded our university-industry partnerships.
Today FIU researchers are working together in record numbers, using a multifaceted approach to solve society’s most important and complex problems. Our faculty engage in life-altering research and mentor students who go on to conduct their own. The smaller class size in many of our STEMrelated programs allows our students to build a lasting sense of community with one another and their teachers. Together they’re creating unforgettable undergraduate experiences that leave our students well positioned for the next phase of their education and career.
At FIU, education doesn’t stop at the edge of campus.
South Florida is a living laboratory. Our students immerse themselves in the lessons of our local communities.
Florida International University offers inspiring undergraduate research experiences in STEM-related disciplines. The time our students spend conducting research will be the most exhilarating of their undergraduate careers. It will open their eyes and minds to opportunities and careers they didn’t know existed. It will change their lives and their view of the world. And they’ll graduate knowing they can contribute in their own unique way to the solving of the world’s greatest challenges and deepest mysteries. FIU faculty conduct groundbreaking research, and our students work alongside them and other students in the lab and in the field. At FIU, it’s not just about what we teach, but how we teach. For more information, visit go.fiu.edu/stem.
re-imagining a better future. The goal of engineering is to advance our quality of life, whether it’s creating newer, more resilient materials or improving the way we commute. FIU faculty are pushing the boundaries of discovery through interdisciplinary research to improve medical tools for diagnostics. Students and researchers in biomedical engineering are working on neuro-enabled protheses that can transmit the sensation of touch. This focus on sensory feedback is unique among prostheses research being conducted today. And students in the College of Engineering and Computing, working alongside faculty, conducted research that resulted in changes to the latest Florida Building Code. The new code is making structures stronger and better able to withstand hurricane-force winds.
“Just after one semester here, I have done hands-on research, providing me with both practical and theoretical knowledge that will help me in my path as an engineer.�
extreme education. Students at FIU don’t memorize the momentum equation. They collide model cars and collect data to understand it. They don’t take notes about electricity. They use magnets to generate voltage and study it. First applied in the Department of Physics, Modeling Instruction abandons traditional lecture and assigned reading approaches to teaching in favor of a classroom that’s a working laboratory. This is just one of the ways FIU is challenging traditional learning. Peer-Led Teaching Learning (PLTL) is another. Used in biological sciences courses, student volunteers augment faculty course instruction by leading weekly study workshops. The program is so popular that FIU now runs one of the largest PLTL programs in the country. QBIC (Quantifying Biology in the Classroom) is another example of FIU challenging the status quo. This highly selective undergraduate premedical and biology scholarship program develops critically minded, holistic students. Faculty in biology, math, chemistry, statistics, physics, computer sciences and biomedical engineering collaborated in creating this program, which equips students with non-biological tools to make them better researchers.
technology support. FIU equips students with the latest technologies to conduct research and explore their fields of study. Creators of the Wall of Wind have invented a device that simulates hurricane-force winds. The most powerful device of its kind in the world, the machine is helping engineers design safer homes and giving students hands-on research opportunities. Astronomy students have access to telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona and the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, allowing them to explore both northern and southern hemisphere skies without ever having to leave Miami. Students interested in forensic science utilize the latest technologies in explosives detection, DNA profiling, drug analysis, forensic anthropology and much more. FIU’s earth scientists are deploying state-of-the-art equipment for better weather forecasting, to explore and improve groundwater supplies, and to effect global climate change. Geosciences students work in fully equipped labs with on-site analytical facilities. In every field of study, FIU provides the best technologies for all students to experience a hands-on education.
“I’ve been able to actively participate in the workings and developments of specific research projects, with my individual input never being ignored or undervalued.”
community engagement. FIU encourages students to become agents of change. By engaging deeply with the world and interacting with local and global communities in relationships and activities, faculty and students are bridging the gap between theory and practice. In an initiative called “The Education Effect,” FIU, JPMorgan Chase and Miami-Dade County Public Schools are partnering to transform lives in one of South Florida’s most impoverished communities. The partnership is bringing together the intellectual resources of a research university, the investment of a major corporation, the commitment of the nation’s fourth largest school district and the dazzling potential of thousands of young minds. At FIU, the goal is to provide hands-on community engagement experiences from the outset of our students’ education. This approach empowers them to be Worlds Ahead.
living laboratories. Students in our marine sciences, biology, chemistry, biochemistry, and earth and environment programs benefit from the unique geography of South Florida, which provides living laboratories literally in our backyard. This includes the Florida Everglades, Florida Bay and Biscayne Bay. Students also are given the opportunity to take what they learn in unique ecosystems and become globally engaged in projects all across the world including the Shark Bay Ecosystem Project in Australia, coral reef research in the Caribbean and the Global Water for Sustainability Program, which is bringing clean, freshwater to the most needy places in Africa, Asia and South America.
“In my nuclear physics class, we studied how MRI machines work, exploring what happens at the cellular level with humans. It was really intense.” real world assistantships. The Center for Children and Families at FIU is a premiere facility for children with mental health problems and learning disabilities. Undergraduate students can work in a true clinical setting, gaining experience in the field of child clinical psychology in exchange for class credit. The hands-on, real-world opportunities allow undergraduate students to be contributing members of research teams. Opportunities like this are available throughout the university. A highlight of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine’s curriculum is the Green Family Foundation NeighborhoodHELP (Health Education Learning Program), an immersion program that sends interdisciplinary teams of students into communities of need. Students track and monitor the health of a number of families throughout their education. The program brings greater access to health services, personalized health education and a distinctly personal touch to South Florida’s most vulnerable communities. NeighborhoodHELP is revolutionizing the way medical students are taught.
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