6
QUEENS WEEKLY, NOVEMBER 17, 2019
Collection of cards from Congresswoman Grace Meng’s
annual holiday card drive in 2017. Courtesy of Meng’s office
BY ANGELICA ACEVEDO
The New York Hall of
Science (NYSCI) and Cognizant
U.S. Foundation
have launched a partnership
that will prepare and
inspire more than 1,000
students and their families
in the science, technology,
engineering and mathematics
(STEM) world.
They made the announcement
during their
“Exploring the Tech Workforce”
night on Oct. 30 at
the Flushing Meadows
Corona Park science museum.
The event, which was
geared toward high school
and college students, consisted
of a panel with four
diverse professionals who
currently work in the
STEM industry and a networking
portion in which
students got to speak with
even more professionals.
Cognizant U.S. Foundation,
a private organization
that supports STEM
education and skills training
founded in May 2018,
awarded NYSCI with a
grant of $500,000.
“What better investment
than an institution
like NYSCI, where we’ve
long been invested in as a
company,” Kristen Titus,
the executive director of
Cognizant U.S. Foundation,
told QNS. “We’ve really
been big supporters of
this institution because we
know the important role
that it plays in this community
and the role it plays
From left to right: Priya Mohabir (NYSCI), Rhonda Binda (New York Venture Council), Meir
Barak, DVM, PhD (Associate Professor of Veterinary Anatomy, Department of Veterinary
Biomedical Sciences, Long Island University), Yipeng Huang (Postdoc Researcher, Princeton
University), Nikhil Shah (Senior Business Analyst / Product Consultant, Cognizant), Sheila
Narayanan (Cognizant), Margaret Honey (CEO, NYSCI), Carol Cohen (Cognizant U.S. Foundation
Board member), Kristen Titus (Executive Director, Cognizant U.S. Foundation).
Photo courtesy of NYSCI
in building a pipeline for
today and tomorrow.”
The grant will be used
to fund NYSCI’s Science
Career Ladder, a program
that trains high school
and college students to act
as facilitators (or, Explainers)
for museum visitors.
The program currently
employs 125 facilitators,
who represent 42 neighborhoods
across New York
City and speak more than
21 languages, according to
Cognizant.
Jamaica resident Kristian
Roopnarine, who recently
graduated from City
College with a masters in
chemistry, has been an Explainer
since he started his
college career.
“It’s an experience that
museum visitors can’t
really find at a lot of other
museums,” Roopnarine,
who’s pursuing a career
in coding, said. “We help
them at these exhibits and
explain different science
concepts and just have conversations
to try and spark
curiosity in them so when
they leave the museum,
they have something to
think about.”
Carol Cohen, senior vice
president at Cognizant, announced
the partnership
during the event and believes
that together they
will be able to offer even
more programming to help
local students learn about
what it means to be in the
STEM industry.
“If you think about students
of this age, they’re
really thinking about their
whole future. The world is
their oyster,” Cohen said.
“We’re hoping to inspire
and attract them by getting
them into activities, learning,
networking, meeting
with people in the field and
hopefully pursuing careers
in this space.”
According to Cognizant’s
Job of the Future
Index, which tracks the demand
for jobs of the future,
jobs within the algorithms,
automation and AI category
maintained a steady
13 percent annual growth.
Some of the jobs included
in this category are Computer
Scientists, Cyber/
Information Security Engineer,
Software Developer/
Engineer, Video Game Designer,
Robotics Engineer,
and Data Scientist.
Meng holds annual
holiday card drive
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Get creative and make a
Queens veteran a heartfelt
holiday card this season.
Congresswoman Grace
Meng announced the return
of her holiday card drive for
veterans in the borough.
For a second year, Meng
will collect cards from local
public and elementary
schools in the area and
hand-deliver them to veterans
at the VA St. Albans
Community Living Center.
Those interested in sending
a card can submit a standard
option or create one
from scratch.
In 2018, Meng distributed
dozens of holiday cards during
her visit to the St. Alban’s
facility in mid-December.
Participating schools
included P.S. 165, P.S. 196,
P.S. 213, P.S. 41, P.S. 24, P.S.
20, East-West School of International
Studies, P.S./I.S.
119 and Holy Family Catholic
Academy.
“As we prepare to mark
Veterans Day next week, we
are again reminded of the
sacrifices that our veterans
have made to protect and
defend our freedom,” said
Meng. “The holiday season
is a very important time of
year. Providing these special
cards to the brave men
and women who served our
nation is an outstanding
way to recognize their service,
and make sure they
know that we have not forgotten
about them during
the holidays. I look forward
to seeing and distributing
all the cards that we receive
this year.”
In the past, Meng has
also invited her constituents
to fill out holiday cards
for American troops serving
abroad.
Drop off or mail cards by
Monday, Dec. 2 to 40-13 159th
St. Suite C in Flushing.
Reach reporter Jenna
Bagcal by e-mail at jbagcal@
qns.com or by phone at (718)
260-2583.
NY Hall of Science gets $500,000
grant to advance STEM education
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