Ahlen Inspires Educators at Technology Summit to Steer Students Toward Careers In STEM

Thursday, Oct 22, 2009

On October 20th, the Department of Information Systems Technology Summit took place at the Crown Plaza in Little Rock. Dr. John Ahlen, President of the Arkansas Science & Technology Authority, was the keynote speaker for the morning.

Speaking to a room of educators from around the state, Ahlen gave an overview of the changing technology landscape in the United States, and focused on the need for Arkansans to keep pace. During his presentation he mentioned that only one percent of our population is employed in scientific fields like engineering. Comparing that statistic to nations like China, the US simply doesn’t measure up.

The ideal solution, he offered, was to get students excited about science and technology at an early age. Pointing to the first generation of students who had never known a world without computers, Ahlen said: “They’ve never used a typewriter. They know only one kind of text: hypertext.”

The most startling statistic of the presentation came when Ahlen noted that that within two decades, computers will be doing the jobs of sixty percent of our nation’s workforce.

“Are your students prepared to face that situation?” he said, challenging the audience. “I doubt it.”

But his presentation wasn’t without a glimmer of hope. Perhaps the most inspiring moment of the talk came as he reflected on his first visit to an EAST lab at Greenbrier High School.

“I remember meeting a twelfth grader named Max.” said Ahlen. “I saw him working on a project for the fire chief, a map of the city tracking hazardous materials at the various businesses in town. His fingers were stained from working in construction the previous summer. When I asked, he said he’d considered being a builder as a possible career. But now, thanks to his exposure in the lab, what he’d really like to do is get a job using computers.”

Ahlen concluded his comments by demonstrating the impact that technology can have on one young life.

“I saw Max again a few years later,” he said, “It was an event for professionals. He was dressed in corporate casual attire, wearing an Oxford shirt with the insignia of a local technology company on it. ”

Evidence of another life changed for the better.