New Jersey STEM Program Newsletter: Local Resources and Guide

New Jersey may have the strongest pharmaceutical and life sciences STEM career connection of any state. Johnson and Johnson, Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novo Nordisk, and dozens of other pharmaceutical companies call New Jersey home. The transistor was invented at Bell Labs in Murray Hill. Princeton University conducts world-class research in the center of the state. A STEM newsletter that connects any of those facts to what students are learning in class makes an immediate and powerful case for why STEM matters in New Jersey.

The pharmaceutical corridor: life sciences in New Jersey

The stretch of I-287 through central New Jersey has one of the highest concentrations of pharmaceutical research facilities in the world. Johnson and Johnson in New Brunswick, Merck in Kenilworth, Bristol-Myers Squibb in Lawrence Township, and Novo Nordisk in Plainsboro are all within a 30-mile radius. These companies employ thousands of chemists, biologists, and clinical research professionals. For New Jersey students, the pharmaceutical industry is a local employer of extraordinary scale.

Bell Labs and the history of invention

Nokia Bell Labs in Murray Hill is the heir to AT&T Bell Laboratories, one of the most productive research institutions in history. The transistor, the laser, information theory, Unix, C, C++, and Python all have roots at Bell Labs. The institution has produced more than a dozen Nobel Prize winners. Telling this story in a STEM newsletter connects New Jersey students to a tradition of fundamental research that changed the modern world and happened in their state.

Princeton and Rutgers research

Princeton University is consistently ranked among the world's top research universities. Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, has major research programs in pharmacy, environmental science, and engineering. Both universities run K-12 outreach programs. The Rutgers Future Scholars program supports underrepresented students. For New Jersey families with college-bound students, these are world-class in-state research environments.

Stevens Institute and engineering in Hoboken

Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken is one of the nation's oldest engineering schools. It has a strong reputation in systems engineering, computer science, and financial engineering. Stevens has active high school outreach programs and is accessible to northern New Jersey students. For students interested in applied engineering, Stevens offers a highly practical technical education.

Template: New Jersey STEM newsletter excerpt

"This semester our biology class is studying drug development and clinical trials, which connects directly to the pharmaceutical research that happens a few miles from our school. New Jersey is home to some of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. We have a researcher from a local pharmaceutical company visiting in November to explain how new medicines are developed and tested. The NJ Science Fair registration also opens this month. Students interested in competing should speak to their science teacher before the end of October."

New Jersey STEM competitions

FIRST Robotics NJ has a highly competitive state championship. Science Olympiad NJ runs rigorous competitions. The NJ Science and Engineering Fair system has strong ISEF representation. MATHCOUNTS NJ is nationally competitive. The NJ Science League competitions run throughout the school year in math and science categories. New Jersey students compete at high levels nationally in all of these programs.

Daystage makes it easy to maintain consistent, professional STEM communication with New Jersey families throughout the school year.