Press
Students from Río Hondo College and local high schools created innovative solutions to modern problems, such as using drones for campus security to report suspicious activity or adapting smart textiles to chairs to fix poor posture in office workers, during the College’s inaugural Bridge to Invention Río program.
“Getting to work with MIT is amazing because you don’t think to get that opportunity at a community college level and it makes the world feel more accessible,” Río Hondo College physics major Elisa Ruvalcaba said.
Through my work with the Lemelson-MIT Program, I had the opportunity to host the 2022 CiC-LMIT Invention Convention! I love the creativity and ingenuity of our young inventors and was honored to play a role in celebrating them.
“The invention process is not an add-on... it’s something more like a foundation from which you can reinvigorate your curriculum to be more authentic and more student-driven ”
Lemelson-MIT Program Encourages Cambridge Girls to “Dream” about STEM.
Lemelson-MIT (LMIT) is working alongside Sisters With a Dream, an afterschool program serving 16 3rd – 5th-grade girls from Fletcher Maynard Academy along with a new effort by a grandparent for 10 girls in grades 1-3. At Sisters With a Dream, supported by Evelyn Garcia Gomez, LMIT’s Invention Education Administrator K-12, coordinating with retired public school teachers, and an MIT student mentor, the girls explore STEM through the lens of social activism. One of the first sessions was an outdoor meeting organized by LMIT with Moderna’s Barbara Salami and Connor Haney.
Cambridge Chamber of Commerce (MA)
“But never satisfied with what’s expected, she brought her engineering skills to young girls from her neighborhood. As the former executive director and current board member of DIY Girls, she has inspired and supported hundreds of young girls onto a path just like hers. She has taught engineering and electronics and tackled wicked problems with her girls, helping to set them on their own ‘impossible’ path.”
“Evelyn Gomez, a Belmont School Committee member, was one of a handful of residents who called for the town to establish a position to oversee hiring and other matters with an eye on racial equity.
‘As a private citizen, I want to support the funding of a diversity director for the town of Belmont. … Can the Select Board please commit to including this position in this year’s override budget?’ she asked.”
2017 Pioneer Woman of the Year
“As a part of the DIY Girls, Evelyn is responsible for helping the organization to grow in order to serve more girls and to help cultivate their interest in technology. It's through these organizations that we can build the next generation of women engineers, businesses and scientist.”
– Awarded by Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez