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Dr. Elodie Billionniere aims to broaden the participation of minority groups in STEM Dr. Elodie Billionniere, Associate Professor, School of Engineering, Eduardo J. Padrón Campus, Miami Dade College
scholarships and wraparound services toward preparing them for STEM careers, which are in high demand and critical to building a competitive workforce that will help grow America’s economy. Enrolled scholars will take classes full-time and are expected to complete the program in two years and participate in supports that research has proven effective in promoting achievement among STEM students. As an associate professor in the School of Engineering and Technology, Dr. Elodie Billionniere aims to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in STEM fields at the Eduardo J. Padrón Campus of Miami Dade College.
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he National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program funds low-income, academically talented students with unmet financial need, who are enrolled in an associate, baccalaureate, or graduate degree program, with a major in an S-STEM eligible discipline. The NSF not only seeks to increase the number of low-income, academically talented students with demonstrated financial need obtaining degrees in STEM eligible disciplines; it also wants to improve the education of future scientists, engineers, and technicians, and generate knowledge to advance understanding of how interventions or evidence-based curricular and cocurricular activities affect the success, retention, transfer, academic/career pathways, and graduation of lowincome students in STEM. Over a five-year period, the NSF S-STEM funds will support 45 Miami Dade College students with
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WOMENOFCOLOR | SPRING 2020
1. I am serving as the program director, also known as principal investigator, for this NSF-funded program. I oversee the program design and implementation, and report to NSF. I also teach the two STEM interdisciplinary courses that each cohort must take during the fall term: Tools for Success (Year 1) and STEM Transfer Success (Year 2). 2. The global cloud services market is expected to reach $555 billion by 2020. The Dade Enterprise Cloud Computing Initiative (DECCI) at Miami Dade College is a partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to raise cloud literacy for underrepresented minority groups in Miami-Dade County. Through the program, we provide students with in-depth, project-based learning opportunities and access to leading AWS technology, giving them a competitive advantage by strengthening academic offerings that lead to not only an academic credential, but also an industry certification, and ultimately employment that leads to high-wage positions. This initiative created a professional development program with AWS to train Miami Dade College (MDC) technology faculty members to teach cloud computing courses, utilizing project-based learning methodology. It also created new academic pathways—college credit
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