Trip to the AISES National Conference

LTC Ware, Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, served as the Officer Representative for the trip section to Minneapolis, MN for the American Indian Science and Engineering Society’s (AISES) National Conference. This trip was in support of the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equal Opportunity (ODIEO) to educate Native American students with STEM backgrounds on the mission, culture and academic program of USMA. Cadets Ges, Kyburz and Macklin of the ODIEO Native American Heritage Forum attended the conference and provided information at the USMA-sponsored booth. The AISES conference, again achieving record attendance, attracted 200 exhibitors, hosted 40 professional and student tracks, and had over 1800 conference registrations, which included students, educators, universities, businesses, government agencies and other influencers. The conference received support from various government agencies to include the US Army Corps of Engineers, Air Force, Navy, CIA, and several agencies and bureaus from the Department of the Interior. The conference also had participation from several top tier academic institutions to include Harvard University, Yale University, Dartmouth University, Cornell University, Columbia University, the USAFA, and Queen’s University (Canada). The cadets also teamed with other students and young professional to design, construct and brief a prototype drone "selfie stick" in a 30-minute exercise. The drone prototype had 3D camera capabilities plus GPS tracking and stabilization using nothing more than two cell phones and basic 3M office supplies. AISES recently recognized USMA as one of the top colleges and universities for Native Americans in STEM education.