bdpatoday® | Patriots Technology

WASHINGTON — High school and middle school students from across the National Capital Region attended the 23rd annual Youth Summit on Technology produced by Patriots Technology Training Center (PTTC) at Bowie State University. Parents, teachers, and sponsors from NSBE, NSBE Jr., and regional BDPA Chapters joined hundreds of students attending cybersecurity workshops, technology panels, and STEM exhibits during this year’s STEM summit.

“Empowering Students Through Technology” has been PTTC’s mission for over 20 years by increasing the number of students, primarily 5th through 12th grades, entering into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) post-secondary fields of study and career paths.

Their award winning program includes an annual Youth Summit on Technology, Summer Camps, and the Patriots STEM Carnival. PTTC also engages in Amusement Park Design, Biology/Chemistry/Math, Biomedical, Cyber Security, Flight Simulation (above), Lego Robotics, Science Bowl, Solar System, and Video Designing competitions for participating. PTTC students have attended Regional and National Society of Black Engineers conferences and regional BDPA Innovation Summits.

iSummit19

Program managers and developers from the Defense Department, public, and private sector organizations participated in this year’s STEM workshops, tech industry panels, or served as judges during BDPA’s regional coding competitions.

National BDPA’s Northeast Region co-hosted its annual regional High School Coding Competition (HSCC) with BDPA of Greater Washington, D.C.’s (BDPA-DC) annual Innovation Summit at Bowie State University. During this year’s Advance Program Briefing to Industry (APBi) and fireside chat, Navy Commander Erica Dobbs, DISA; Joy Huggins, Defender Academy; Eileen Gadsden, E-Region Enterprises; and Raymond Bell, Jr. of HOPE Project DMV shared their diverse backgrounds with members. Their recent success stories revealed how well their respective organizations uniquely continue to successfully navigate complex digital transformations with legacy technology, aging policies, and cultural challenges while assimilating traditionally underrepresented communities into tomorrow’s tech workforce.

National BDPA’s HSCC program, launched by Dr. Jesse L. Bemley in 1986, will feature this year’s regional finalists from participating chapter cities during national scholarship rounds in Atlanta, GA during #BDPACon19, August 1-3, 2019. BDPA-DC’s 2019 regional HSCC teams were co-sponsored by AIS and bdpatoday. Select here to co-sponsor local teams and order new swag for this year’s journey to Atlanta!

— BDPA photos ©2019 bdpatoday

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

WASHINGTON (bdpatoday)—National BDPA’s (NBDPA) Washington, D.C. Chapter (BDPA-DC) will celebrate several milestones during this year’s annual technology and community service awards banquet. Chartered in 1978 to introduce underserved communities to “data processing”, computer sciences, or help bridge digital divides between industry, academia, and government, BDPA-DC also celebrates its 38th Anniversary in 2016.

National High School Computer Competition (HSCC) Launched 30 Years Ago
The National BDPA High School Computer Competition (HSCC) was founded in 1986 by Dr. Jesse L. Bemley, a National BDPA Life Member from Washington, D.C. What started as a two-team event between Washington, D.C. (BDPA-DC) and Atlanta, GA (BDPA Atlanta) HSCC Teams has grown to over 25 teams of students from various high schools in BDPA Chapter cities throughout the nation. HSCC was designed to introduce Student Members to the field of data processing careers, now Information Communication and Technology (ICT), to encourage students to seek higher levels of training, certification, education, and groom them to become our nation’s next generation of ICT leaders and technical professionals.

bdpatoday Reaches 10-Year Milestone
BDPA-DC’s Communications Committee also reaches a new milestone this year with their serial publication, bdpatoday (ISSN 1946-1429), entering its tenth season. The first edition of bdpatoday was published in May of 2007 to promote information technology and cyber success stories through the lenses of underserved communities in advance of the annual National BDPA Technology Conference co-hosted in Washington D.C. that year.

2016 BDPA-DC Award Recipients
BDPA-DC’s 2016 Technology and Community Service Award recipients will be honored on Saturday, November 19, 2016, at the Washington Navy Yard Conference Center from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

This year’s Award Categories for the National Capital Region follow.

• 2016 BDPA-DC Lifetime Achievement Award:
Terry Halvorsen; Department of Defense (DoD), Chief Information Officer (CIO)

• 2016 BDPA-DC Entrepreneur of the Year:
Aaron Saunders; Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Clearly Innovative, Inc.

• 2016 BDPA-DC Member of the Year:
Thurman Jones; Patriots Technology Training Center (PTTC)

• 2016 Chapter President’s Awards:
Instructor Staff: H.O.P.E. Project DMV
“Helping Other People Excel“

• Mission Partner of the Year:
United States Air Force

• Education Partner of the Year:
Bowie State University

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Top cover photo: (L-R) Terry Halvorsen (DoD); Aaron Saunders (Clearly Innovative, Inc.); Thurman Jones (Patriots Technology Training Center); Louis Shack (HSCC); Raymond Bell Jr.; Michael Smith; David Reid, and Dean Cook [not pictured] (H.O.P.E. Project DMV).