The Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program was established nationally in February 2006 to address the shortage of students who are majoring in these fields. In a recent international assessment of 15-year-old students, the United States ranked 28th in math literacy and 24th in science literacy. Moreover, the U.S. ranks 20th among all nations in the proportion of 24-year-olds who earn degrees in natural science or engineering.

‘‘Nationally, we’ve had a decline in the number of students pursuing engineering degrees and other science, technology or engineering programs,” said Kathy Glockner, NAWCAD education partnership coordinator. ‘‘We’re losing our cutting edge to the brain trust. More children are majoring in science and mathematics in China and other countries. Our children fall well below the competitive list of test scores throughout the world.”

She said in order to prevent a disaster, the Department of Defense has asked all its services to engage in educational outreach programs, primarily to give teachers and children real-world examples of the classroom lessons to make learning these subjects more exciting and create educational pathways for children.

‘‘We have a lot different components to our programs on base. I basically work with fourth- through 12th-grade students, and though I’m not a recruiter, I also give presentations to college students about career opportunities. We are very interested in reaching out to the College of Southern Maryland’s engineering students,” Glockner said.

Glockner outlined several of the programs with which the station is involved, including ‘‘Pax River 101,” in which representatives from the base go to local schools to provide students with an overview of what they do on base. She said the briefing is usually followed by a tour of the base scheduled within a week of the presentation.

One such program recently was presented by NAWCAD Vice Commander Capt. Dave Gleisner at the Spring Ridge Middle School. Gleisner’s presentation to the STEM-6 class discussed what the aircraft division was all about and what the mission of his organization involved. A 27-year Navy veteran, Gleisner told the sixth- and seventh-graders that his wife is a first-grade teacher and jokingly offered an ‘‘A” to any student who had attended her class.

‘‘You’ve probably heard a lot about engineers on the base, and most of you have been there and probably met many engineers,” he said, ‘‘but I’m not an engineer.” He told the class that he is a scientist — more formally, an aerospace experimental psychologist.

‘‘We study how people interact with other people and with machines,” he said.

His job as an experimental psychologist was to analyze where and how controls are positioned in an aircraft, determine what the pilot needs to see and what kinds of information should be given to him or her. Gleisner’s PowerPoint presentation covered the variety of aircraft flown on base, the various organizations at Pax River and what they do, and he solicited questions from the students throughout his presentation.

At the conclusion of his discussion, Gleisner asked the students if they knew how they fit into his presentation and why he took the time to show them all the things he did. The students had a variety of responses, one telling the captain that as older people retire, younger people will be needed to take their place and he was there to get kids interested in working on base.

‘‘I was very impressed with the Spring Ridge sixth-grade STEM class,” Gleisner said of the experience. ‘‘The questions they asked were thoughtful and reflected a good understanding of aircraft and flight. As I went through my talk, it was apparent I could introduce increasingly complex concepts and ask them more thought provoking questions. It was quite an enjoyable hour. Our future is in good hands.”

Several engineers and scientists from the base are involved in the STEM program and take the time to go to various schools throughout Southern Maryland to lecture and do presentations to students.

‘‘One of the big things I’m doing is an engineering challenge,” said Dr. Linda Mullen, a research scientist. ‘‘This involves a box with a laser and a photo detector in which the laser has to propagate through several different obstacles.” The challenge for the students is to get the most light possible through the course by circumventing various obstacles in the path of the laser.

Mullen said when that challenge is met, the students can then modulate the laser beam with sounds from their iPods and hear the music transmitted via the laser beam by directing the light and connecting a speaker to the system. When the beam is blocked, the sound goes away; when unblocked, the sound is heard.

‘‘I can’t imagine having this kind of exposure when I was a youngster,” Mullen said. ‘‘Sixth-graders working with lasers and getting a first-hand engineering experience is just great.”

Laser technology is a favorite topic of interest among students throughout the local school systems. Dr. Frank Narducci, a research physicist with NAWCAD uses a different type of laser technology to interest the students with whom he works in the STEM program.

‘‘What I do for the STEM program is go into the classrooms and give a lecture of a general introduction to lasers,” Narducci said. ‘‘I also do a demonstration in which I use a laser as a means to eavesdrop. It’s called a laser eavesdropper which basically involves detecting a laser beam that hits a window.”

He explained that a speaker is put behind the window. The window vibrates and ‘‘imprints” the vibration on the light coming back. So by feeding the signal from the detected light into another speaker, one can hear what the first speaker is playing. It’s a technique that allows someone to listen to something in another room that one might not otherwise hear.” He said the kids really enjoy this project.

This is one of several projects Narducci does with students throughout Southern Maryland. He has been going into classrooms informally, attempting to excite kids about science on his own for more than 12 years before being formally recruited by Glockner for the STEM program two years ago. He is impressed with the quality of the program and the interest level of the students with whom he is involved. ‘‘The kids in the classroom typically respond very well,” he said.

In his day job, aerospace engineer Ken Cahill works primarily with rotorcraft but also enjoys working with the STEM program.

‘‘My involvement in STEM is based on a series called ‘the case of the challenging flight.’ This is a one-hour program on DVD the kids receive in four 15-minute segments once per week,” he said. After the kids have seen each segment, Cahill said that a teacher will invite him into the classroom to do a presentation and provide a hands-on demonstration of the topics discussed, which include lift, drag and thrust, the different forces involved in keeping an aircraft in flight.

‘‘The idea of this program is not to teach kids but to garner interest in the technical field,” Cahill said. At the conclusion of his presentation, he participates in a base tour with the students organized by the Education Outreach office.

Each summer, the base hires students through several different programs. The Education Outreach office provides an overview of the available positions and helps selected students through the application process. The primary focus is on students pursuing STEM higher education courses and business degrees.

‘‘Students who have completed their second year of college can apply to become cooperative education students through the University of Maryland’s program,” said Dr. Paul Hoffman, NAVAIR’s director of education and research partnerships.

‘‘Currently, we have four students who will be working on base from the cooperative program through which courses are taught at the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center by NAWCAD adjunct professors, Hoffman said. ‘‘Our plans are to have more students participating next year,”

Students in this program will study mechanical engineering with an aerospace engineering flavor. Their course will include the dynamics of atmospheric flight, air-breathing propulsion and flight controls. The curriculum will have an aeronautical orientation with the ultimate goal being to educate and grow our own engineers and scientists, Hoffman said.

The Education Outreach office organizes more than 60 school tours and lab visits per year to complement science, technology, engineering and mathematics and business curriculum. Specialized tours in aviation, chemistry, physics and environmental science also can be arranged.

The task of coordinating the STEM program in Calvert County is the responsibility of Karen Lane, a retired NAWCAD electronics engineer and resident of Calvert County.

‘‘I was essentially brought on to expand the program into Calvert County with Kathy (Glockner) being so busy with St. Mary’s County,” Lane said.

‘‘Eventually, the plan is to put the program in all of Calvert County schools. Teachers will get additional training from the University of Maryland, after which every sixth-grade student will be exposed to a short course in engineering. If they like it, they will have an opportunity to get into educational tracks that will provide additional exposure to STEM courses,” Lane said.

For information on the STEM program, contact Glockner at 301-342-2281 or Lane at 301-706-0245.