ONE hundred high school students from some of the most vulnerable communities in western Jamaica are getting the opportunity to be fully immersed in a four-week interactive STEM summer camp spearheaded by the University of Technology (UTech), Jamaica’s western campus.

New Fortress Energy Foundation, main sponsor for the summer camp, is applauding UTech, Jamaica for this initiative, which it says aligns with its own vision of creating opportunities for more students to embrace and choose science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) as a discipline.

“As a liquefied natural gas provider operating in a new sector in Jamaica, we understand the critical role of STEM in shaping the future of Jamaica’s economic development and growth. We continue to invest heavily in programmes like these that will help to cultivate our next generation of innovators and world changers through STEM. Many of these students are from underserved communities, so we are delighted to be partnering with UTech, Jamaica to give them this exposure and opportunity to explore STEM and learn as much as possible over the coming weeks,” said Verona Carter, VP, New Fortress Energy, speaking at the recent launch of the inaugural summer programme.

Carter also highlighted that the LNG provider recently welcomed its first cohort of engineering interns for this year, as part of its overall agenda to boost Jamaica’s STEM capacity.

“Our internship is part of our commitment to help build a robust and sustainable STEM sector that will in turn drive sustainable socio-economic development for Jamaica,” she said.

The STEM summer camp, which started July 8 and runs through to the 26th at UTech’s summer campus, aims to help students develop relevant skills within the respective STEM disciplines, teach them to handle real-life situations, enable them to keep up with technological innovations, and see real opportunities as they look to their future — all while building a pipeline of qualified interested in pursuing STEM disciplines at the institution.

NFE has also announced that all students who participate in the camp will receive school supplies at the end of the camp, while three upper school high students will receive bursaries valued at $50,000 each to offset tuition and the cost of external examinations.

Meanwhile, Dr Kevin Brown, president of UTech, Jamaica, spoke of the university’s motivation behind the summer camps, while reinforcing its commitment to supporting Jamaica’s future workforce.

“What is happening, as everyone can see, is that there is rapid technological change globally, and in order for us to stay abreast as a country, we have to take on the mandate to meet the future workforce needs of Jamaica, the region and the world. In less than a decade, we have an LNG sector in Jamaica, and the world is embracing artificial intelligence and intelligent machines. Part of this pivot means ensuring that we have a pipeline of students who are qualified to enter the institution and we commend companies like NFE Foundation for quickly buying into our vision and putting the required funding behind this programme, which we hope will grow from strength to strength,” he said.