Minority Students from Across the Country Showcase Research at Colorado State University July 27-30

Note to Editors: Reporters are welcome to attend the research conference at the University Park Holiday Inn, 425 W. Prospect Rd., July 27-30. Photo opportunities include students demonstrating a variety of science- and technology-related projects. Interviews with participants and the project director are available by calling June Greist at (970) 491-6432.

Minority undergraduate students from across the country will showcase their research July 27-30 at a conference hosted by the Colorado Alliance for Minority Participation at Colorado State University.

The conference, held at the University Park Holiday Inn in Fort Collins, will feature a research poster competition; student and faculty panel discussions; tours of Colorado State’s research programs; and opportunities for participants to meet with industry representatives and National Science Foundation officials. The public is invited to view the research posters and attend the poster presentation competition from 9 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. July 28.

The Colorado Alliance for Minority Participation is a consortium of 13 four-year institutions and community colleges and four Native American tribes in Colorado and the Four Corners region. The alliance’s mission is to double the number of historically and currently under-represented American Indian, African American and Hispanic students earning bachelor’s degrees in science, math, engineering and technology. The program, headquartered at Colorado State University, is funded through a five-year, $5 million National Science Foundation grant, with $5 million in additional matching funds. The Colorado Alliance for Minority Participation is part of a national program that encompasses 28 alliances across the country.

"The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation Program is directly addressing the increasing demand for high technology workers," said A. James Hicks, senior program director of the National Science Foundation’s Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation Program. "The program is reaching approximately 180,000 students annually and is producing more than 20,500 baccalaureate graduates in the fields of science, mathematics, engineering and technology per year."

Keynote speakers at the research conference will include Colorado Lieutenant Governor Joe Rogers; John Baker, chairperson of the Southern Ute Tribe; Fort Collins Mayor Ray Martinez; Omnia El-Hakim, Colorado Alliance Principal Investigator; Colorado State Vice Provost Robert Gaines; and Arthur Hicks of the National Science Foundation.

The conference is one of many activities organized by the alliance. Various internships are being offered to students by organizations including Agilent Technologies, Hewlett-Packard, International Business Machines, Los Alamos National Laboratory, United States Geological Services, Space Grant Consortium and Inroads. Programs that bridge students’ high-school and college experiences are currently being held at Colorado State University, University of Southern Colorado and the University of Colorado at Boulder, and undergraduate students are conducting funded research at eight Colorado Alliance for Minority Participation colleges and universities. The alliance also raises funds for a Summer Enrichment Science Camp that targets middle-school, junior-high and high-school students. This year’s camp was funded in part by the Colorado Institute of Technology.

"These activities are crucial to underrepresented students to give them the opportunity to do well in their classrooms, to increase their test scores, retention rates and graduation rates," said Omnia El-Hakim, the director and principal investigator of Colorado Alliance for Minority Participation. "CO-AMP is investing in education by increasing the pool of the diverse students who are eager to learn about science and technology."

Sponsors of the research conference include the National Science Foundation; Agilent Technologies; Hewlett Packard; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Qwest; Level 3 Communications; City of Fort Collins Fort Fund; IBM; Raytheon; University of Southern Colorado; Anheuser Busch; Woodward Governor; Waterpic Technologies; Colorado Division of Wildlife; Advanced Professional Engineering; the Southern Ute Indian Tribe; USDA APHIS-VS; and Colorado State University’s Office of the President, Office of the Provost, Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs and Women and Minorities in Engineering Program.

For more information, call (970) 491-2978. Information is also available on the Web at http://lamar.colostate.edu/~coamp.