Event showcases information technology projects

Mesut Duran (left), associate dean of the School of Education, posed with Adarees Black, a junior at Northwestern High School, and Daniel Lawson, associate professor of chemistry, during a showcase of the Fostering Interest in Information Technology (FI3T) Project at U-M's Detroit Center on March 26.

The showcase included project presentations by Detroit Public Schools high school students who have been participating in the FI3T program for the past two years. Duran directs the FI3T program, while Lawson is the science team leader of the project.

Black is a FI3T student who recently participated in the 54th annual Science and Engineering Fair of Metro Detroit 2010-2011, where her project won an "outstanding" award. Other FI3T students who won awards at that event include:

• Pearl Gray - Mathematics: 3rd place in her category (Mathematics); US Metric Association Award; selected as Student Observer for Intel ISEF in Los Angeles in May.
• Lawrence Harris, Chelsea Reed and Chanel Wilkerson - Engineering: blue (Outstanding award)
• Jasmine Ross - Mathematics: green (Excellent award)
  FI3T, which is funded by the National Science Foundation's ITEST program, involves several UM-Dearborn faculty members and students from SOE, CASL and CECS.

The project aims to increase opportunities for underrepresented and underserved high-school students---particularly those from urban communities in southeastern Michigan---to learn about and gain experience using information technologies within the context of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Photo courtesy Mesut Duran