Black Family Technology Awareness Day
As part of the celebration of Black History Month, Rensselaer joins community leaders across the nation urging families to participate in the fast-moving world of technology. The day focuses on the importance of technology in everyday life and opportunities for the future.

Rensselaer Science and Technology Entry Program
Through the STEP program, 150 underrepresented and economically disadvantaged students in five area middle and high schools develop problem-solving skills and a broad knowledge base prior to entry into post-secondary schools. Funded by Rensselaer and the New York State Education Department, STEP aims to increase access to and retention in scientific, technical, engineering, and health professions by offering a range of after-school enrichment activities, summer programs, research opportunities on college campuses and industry, and career development experiences.

Center for Initiatives in Pre-College Education
Through the innovative efforts of the Center for Initiatives in Pre-College Education (CIPCE), Rensselaer is helping our nation's public school education system prepare the college students of tomorrow. Rensselaer believes that it shares with the nation’s schools an obligation to develop and deliver a first-class education to students at all levels. To achieve its vision, the CIPCE fosters innovations in pre-college education that build upon Rensselaer’s strengths and traditions in pedagogy, interactive learning, educational technologies and teacher education.

Connected Kids Project
Connected Kids is a collaborative effort by Rensselaer, the City of Troy, Rensselaer County, the Troy and Lansingburgh public schools, and numerous youth-services organizations to develop a searchable database and World Wide Web interface that will provide information about programs and activities for children and their families and multimedia content developed by and for children. Rensselaer students contribute to the programming and interface design and also extend access to the database by maintaining computing and networking equipment and providing instruction for children and senior citizens at the Troy Housing Authority. Connected Kids is supported by the 3Com Urban Challenge Program, the National Science Foundation, the City of Troy, the Schools of Humanities and Social Sciences and Science, and the numerous departments and divisions that donate computing and networking equipment for use by low-income, limited-access populations.

Connected Kids database: http://www.connectedkids.info/
Connected Kids galleries: http://connectedkids.sbrl.rpi.edu/

Design Your Future Day
More than 120 11th grade girls, primarily from the northeast, take part in the annual Design Your Future Day (DYFD). The event, hosted by Rensselaer, engages participants in activities to inform and excite them about career opportunities in engineering, science, architecture, and technology. The program included workshops — led by Rensselaer faculty, staff, and undergraduate and graduate students — on a range of topics including: design and manufacturing of medical devices, architecture and building design for community improvement, computer simulation models in health care, and robotics in manufacturing processes.

Exploring Engineering Day
Exploring Engineering Day is an annual day of hands-on engineering activities for area Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Activities are designed to spark the children’s interest in science and technology, and to encourage them to consider pursuing careers in the engineering field. Participants exercise their problem-solving, brainstorming, design, and teamwork skills in hands-on activities that cover a wide range of engineering disciplines, including electrical, aeronautical, and mechanical engineering. Rensselaer undergraduate and graduate engineering students lead the day’s events.

FIRST Robotics Competition
Undergraduate students, faculty and staff in the School of Engineering work with many high-school students participating in the annual FIRST Robotics Competition. The FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition involves teams of high school students who design, assemble, and test a robot capable of performing a specified task in competition with other teams. In 6 short weeks, they design and build a robot, while learning about science and technology in a fun, hands-on way. During the ‘build’, they solve fundamental engineering problems and even try out new technologies. For example, the 2005 team earned the Xerox Creativity Award for a component they created using the Rapid Prototype machine located in Rensselaer’s Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory.

The Molecularium™ Project
Rensselaer’s Molecularium™ project is an exciting new animation, in a planetarium setting, created to spark interest in the atoms and molecules that constitute our world. Via pioneering digital dome technology, viewers are completely immersed in a captivating virtual world. Screenings of the Molecularium episodes work in conjunction with additional learning materials for young students: activities, written materials, and quizzes, to reinforce the ideas presented in the show. The topics are tied to the New York state curriculum for primary schools.   Molecularium Web Site

PREFACE
Begun at RPI more than 30 years ago, PREFACE gives high school sophomores from underrepresented and underserved groups the opportunity to come to Rensselaer and experience what an engineering education can offer them. The primary goal is to enable interested and talented students to explore the opportunities in engineering and engineering-related professions. Through interactive laboratory experiences, lectures, discussions, field trips, and plant visits, participants have an opportunity to explore the challenges and rewards of a technological education. In addition to the hands-on experience, the students also take classes in core disciplines, from electrical engineering and computing to leadership and career development. PREFACE is funded through annual corporate and foundation contributions, and subsidizes each participant’s round-trip transportation to Rensselaer, tuition, fees, and room and board for the two-week session.

Tutor-time Tutors
Begun by Rensselaer students in the fall of 2001, this reading and math tutoring program coordinated by the Dean of Students Office is offered in association with America Reads and America Counts. Free tutoring services are offered for local students grades K-9 each Saturday in two locations including the Lansingburgh Library and the School 14 cafeteria.