Google expands support of NCSSM with $125K

DURHAM – Google will partner with the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics to boost STEM education initiatives and interest.

Under one partnership, the company, which operates an engineering hub in Durham, will provide $125,000 in funds to support professional development for the Ryden Program for Innovation and Leadership in Artificial Intelligence.

The funding provided by Google will cover the costs of multi-day workshops for teachers who are focusing on integrating artificial intelligence into cybersecurity, machine learning, and other curriculum offerings.

It’s a part of a nationwide program from the big technology company.

“At Google, we believe educational opportunities should be available regardless of socioeconomic status, background, race or geography,” said Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai in a blog post. “We’re building on our long-time support for nonprofits with an additional $20 million commitment to expand CS education access to more than 11 million students across the U.S. … This brings our total commitment to CS education to more than $240 million since 2004.”

The program is named for Carl Ryden, CEO of PrecisionLender and an NCSSM alumni, following a 2018 gift to the institution to found the program.

School of Science, Math alum makes multi-million dollar gift for artificial intelligence

Sponsoring student-led hackathon

Google will also sponsor the upcoming UniHacks Hackathon, a student-led program at North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics.

The event, held Saturday and Sunday, will occur at both NCSSM campuses in Durham and in Morgonton. Google is also providing field engineers to consult with the student teams participating in the hackathon event.

“Students work in a team, or by themselves, to build an innovative piece of software in a limited amount of time,” the event website reads about how the event will be structured. “Students will form teams around a problem or idea, and sprint to code a unique solution—these typically take the form of mobile applications, websites, or other digital solutions.”

Tracks include mental health, physical health, disease-related projects, and healthcare logistics and teams will work across about 36 hours consecutively to complete their projects.

Other event sponsors include Cisco Systems, NC IDEA, Pattern Health, and the Van Scoyoc Center for Oral Health.