Veterans interested in careers and education involving science, technology, engineering and mathematics got a big boost at the . Associate Professor Richard Jones has received a $638,100 grant to create the Veterans Empowered Through STEM (VETS) program.
The three-year grant was awarded by the Office of Naval Research through a competitive process and will run through October 2021. Under the grant, Jones will be able to support student veterans who are interested in a career in a STEM-related field. He will add more 3D printers to the STEM lab, enhance and provide outreach to veterans, recruit for internships and externships and possibly fund a lounge.
“It¡¯s leveraging what we already have,” said Jones. He sees the VETS program as having the potential to directly support and promote the transition of veterans into STEM-related career fields.
The VETS program addresses an effort by the Department of Navy to improve STEM education to ensure that a science, technology, engineering and mathematics workforce can help meet Navy and Marine Corps challenges. It also fits UH West Oʻahu¡¯s mission of offering education addressing state, regional and international needs in an effort to increase enrollment, including attracting more veteran students.
The VETS program will be comparable to the UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ (VTEC) program that guides veterans into careers in the sustainable energy industry. The VETS program will be more general than the VTEC program and may help build a pipeline to VTEC for veterans who want to focus on the sustainable energy industry.
For more on the VETS program, read the UH West Oʻahu .
—By Greg Wiles