MindFuel granted $990,000 over three years in support for millions of K-12 students and their teachers across Canada.
September 17, 2018 – Calgary, AB – MindFuel (Science Alberta Foundation) is pleased to announce its continued support of the next generation of Canadian scientists and engineers through its programs made possible with $990,000 in NSERC PromoScience funding.
MindFuel’s programming focuses on skills development in science technology engineering and math (STEM) to advance Canada’s Innovation Agenda. The funding from PromoScience will help MindFuel prepare K-12 students to develop the necessary skills for the jobs of the future.
Today’s students are tomorrow’s researchers, leaders and entrepreneurs. The NSERC PromoScience grants will be used, in support of Canada’s Innovation Agenda, to continue expansion of STEM enrichment for youth in Alberta and across Canada, and to deliver on-demand professional development for Teachers via Educators’ Gateway on Wonderville.org.
“MindFuel’s mission for three decades has been to support students, both inside and outside of the classroom and to develop critical STEM skills,” said Cassy Weber, MindFuel CEO. “We are the pioneers in digital STEM education making our award-winning programs accessible any time, any place and at any pace. Our rich learning hands-on programs, such as geekStarter and workshops in innovation and design thinking, provide mentoring and skills training opportunities for students. Support from NSERC PromoScience is much appreciated as it will help us advance on our mission through continued program development and delivery.”
“MindFuel is at the forefront in educational technology with the development of its student engagement platform, Wonderville.org and its hands-on geekStarter program, both of which teach students to use solve real-world problems using STEM. Wonderville is a digital platform used in classrooms across Canada, in English and French. geekStarter is an immersive, team-based workshops and skills development program which helps students gain the necessary experience in real-world problem solving using STEM. It also helps develop their communications, community engagement, collaboration, critical thinking and creative skills,” says Dr. Cindi Vaselenak, Superintendent of Schools at Evergreen Catholic Separate Regional Division No. 2.
Quick Facts About MindFuel:
- Canada’s largest science-centre-without-walls
- Reached over 15,000 communities across Canada in 2017 and delivered over 2.4M student learning sessions (SLS) through STEM programming in French and English, as follows:
- Biodiversity, energy and alternative energy, agriculture, and environmental and water management science: 1,582,088 SLS
- STEM knowledge foundations (such as biology, physics, chemistry, and earth sciences): 347,636 SLS
- Health and related sciences: 149,746 SLS
- Design thinking, innovation, and entrepreneurialism: 138,773 SLS
- Synthetic biology and nanotechnology: 101,782 SLS
- STEM Career Showcases, and girls and women in STEM: 27,150 SLS
- Computational thinking, robotics, information modeling, machine learning, and artificial intelligence: 26,054 SLS
- Space and astronomy: 16,442 SLS
- Indigenous ways of knowing: 13,321 SLS
- Workshops, mentor-supported student research, and real-world problem-solving programming included:
- 23 middle/high school teams; 433 students, 86,600 hrs of student learning
- 12 collegiate teams; 262 students, 52,400 hours of student learning
- 36 multiyear projects; several have spun out into venture capital-backed tech & biotech companies
Contacts:
Shannon McClennan-Taylor
Communications Advisor, MindFuel
Tel.: 403-220-0077 x235
Email: media@mindfuel.ca
Valérie Levert-Gagnon
Media and Public Affairs Officer, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Tel.: 613-996-2341
Email: media@nserc-crsng.gc.ca
About NSERC
NSERC invests over $1.2 billion each year in natural sciences and engineering research in Canada. Our investments deliver discoveries—valuable world-firsts in knowledge claimed by a brain trust of over 11,000 professors. Our investments enable partnerships and collaborations that connect industry with discoveries and the people behind them. Researcher-industry partnerships established by NSERC help inform research and development and solve scale-up challenges.
NSERC also provides scholarships and hands-on training experience for more than 30,000 post-secondary students and post-doctoral fellows. These young researchers will be the next generation of science and engineering leaders in Canada. PromoScience provides financial support for organizations working with young Canadians to promote an understanding of science and engineering (including mathematics and technology).
About MindFuel
Established in 1990 by James (Jim) Gray, O.C., as Science Alberta Foundation, MindFuel is a registered charitable organization focused on creating future generations of innovators and problem-solvers – directly related to helping Canada diversify its economy through a focus on STEM education and career paths. (STEM – science, technology, engineering and math.) MindFuel supports teachers with award-winning programs and helps immerse students in the fun world of STEM through blended learning, which includes both digital and hands-on training, critical to advancing Canada’s Innovation Agenda. For more information on programming, please visit mindfuel.ca.
