Stemcast With Dr. Reagan Flowers

Jade Cowans is a Credit & Collections Specialist at National Oilwell Varco.    In this episode, Jade shares with us her first encounter with Dr. Reagan Flowers, experiences while at Texas A&M University, and the importance of contributing to our youth.    For more information visit http://cstem.org.  

Dr. Valentine joined the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in July 2006. She examines semiconductor patent applications including phase-change memory, nanoscale memory and spintronic devices. She became a primary examiner in 2012, and full time tele-commutes to her Washington DC area office from sunny Orlando FL.   In this episode, Jami shares with us her childhood influence that led her to STEM and earning a doctorate degree, striving to change the face of physics and her role with the USPTO.   For more information on STEMCAST visit http://cstem.org.

  Krista Bourne is the president over a twelve state market for Verizon Wireless, the nation’s largest and most reliable wireless carrier. In this role, Bourne leads the team responsible for delivering extraordinary customer service and growing the sales, marketing, operations and financial performance in the market.   Bourne, a 15-year veteran of the wireless business, has held positions of increasing responsibility within Verizon including director - Customer Service in the Northeastern U.S., director - Customer Service for Verizon in the Southeast, director - Retail Sales for Upstate New York and region president for the Houston and Gulf Coast markets. Most recently, Bourne was president of Verizon’s Carolinas where she led sales, service, leadership development and business transformation efforts.   Bourne has been an active member in her community and most recently served on the Boards of the Houston Area Women’s Center and Houston Technology Center. Bourne’s enthusiasm to serve customers, her eagerness

Justin Garcia is one of Houston's premiere artist by being acknowledged in 2013 as one of the top “100 Creatives of Houston” by the Houston Press, and was chosen by the Houston Press Editorial Board as the 2013 Artist of the Year. In 2014, Garcia was named one of Houston's Top 10 Painters for 2014 by the Houston Press Editorial, and 2016 Hunting Prize finalist.  Garcia describes his style as abstract expressionist using oils and acrylics on canvas. Through years of life experiences and creative ideas in 2015, he released his first book One Ton Goldfish: In Search of the Tangible Dream, a retrospective of his seven series in which Garcia's personal truth carried some universal meaning. *Leonardo da Vinci Quote: To develop a complete mind: Study the science of art; study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything you see. If you are looking to explore art the Texas Art Supply holds classes as well as visiting local studios and galleries.  Garcia defines success not by m

For over thirty years Nathelyne Kennedy has led a successful career as an engineer in Houston. Founder of Nathelyne A. Kennedy & Associates specializes in civil and structural engineering. Her firm has worked on major projects with the City of Houston, Harris County Toll Road Authority, and the Texas Department of Transportation.    Nathelyne's personal accomplishments include being the 1st woman engineering graduate student from Prairie View A&M University and the 1st woman professional engineer registered with the state of Texas. In 2006 Prairie View named the Nathelyne Archie Kennedy Building, housing the School of Architecture and Art, in her honor. She has been honored by the U.S. Small Business Administration with their prestigious Minority Business Woman of the Year Award and by U.S. Black Engineer as Entrepreneur of the Year.   In this episode Nathelyne shares with us her journey, overcoming challenges, and how to support our youth.    Nathelyne defines success by reaching the goals you set ou

Scott Bembenek is a Principal Scientist at Johnson & Johnson and author of The Cosmic Machine: The Science That Runs Our Universe & The Story Behind It. In this episode, Scott discusses his love for chemistry and how to make science fun. Scott suggest the idea of creating a healthy lifestyle challenge for the program. The importance of making yourself marketable for the workforce while in college and how to become successful. For more information visit http://cstem.org.    

Makeda Ricketts founded PinkThink, an education technology company in 2013. PinkThink is an interest-oriented and peer-supported web and mobile platform that makes (S)cience, (T)echnology, (E)ngineering, and (M)ath education powerful, relevant, and engaging for girls. PinkThink is known for creating cStyle Bracelets, a wearable that girls can code to change colors based on things like ambient light and body temperature. PinkThink has won numerous awards, and Makeda was recently named Maker of the Year by the International Alley Awards. PinkThink has also been featured in several publications including Edsurge, FW Magazine, and Chicago Inno. Makeda shares with us how she has applied her MBA degree, the process of developing a product, and the preparation needed to become an entrepreneur. For more information on PinkThink visit http://www.thepinkthink.com. Be sure to check out http://cstem.org. 

Emile has become an accomplished and traveled photographer whose approach to commercial photography is business first. While photography requires a sense of creativity, spatial awareness, and timing, commercial photography requires understanding how the correct image can be translated into revenue. Emile Browne's business first approach takes into account the business needs first and then translates those needs into the required visual representation.   Emile's early professional background is in Finance and IT, which gives him a decidedly distinct perspective on how, when and why to shoot. His process driven method, a skill honed from his IT experience, is used to ensure consistent and replicable results. His finance background shapes his understanding of efficiency, balanced with cost, all the while ensuring images delivered to spec.   To view Emile's work visit his website http://www.emilecbrowne.com.    For more information visit http://cstem.org.

Kimberly Kiel is a Senior Clinical Research Associate and Manager in the Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology industry. At an early age she was drawn to science and was able to find her way through the support of loving parents, mentors, and educators.  For more information visit http://cstem.org.  

Jervon Harris joined Gardner Capital Development in 2014.  As senior vice president of the Texas Region, Harris oversees all aspects of sourcing acquisition opportunities and executing the development of apartment communities.  In addition, he manages daily operations including site selection, financing, and construction.  Harris is primarily responsible for growing the company’s Texas brands of multifamily apartments and senior living developments while also managing joint venture relationships. With over 10 years of experience in the finance, design and construction of multifamily apartment communities, Harris has extensive experience with the development of lifestyle oriented residential developments and senior living in particular. For more information visit http://cstem.org. 

William E. Cohn, MD, is Director of the Center for Technology and Innovation; Associate Director of Laboratory Surgery Research in the Center for Cardiac Support; and Director of the Cullen Cardiovascular Research Laboratory at the Texas Heart Institute. He is also a professor of surgery at Baylor College of Medicine and an adjunct professor of bioengineering at both Rice University and the University of Houston. His major research interests include the development of new technology for decreasing the invasiveness of cardiac and vascular surgery and development of the continuous-flow totally implantable artificial heart.   In 2011, Dr. Cohn and Dr. O. H. Frazier successfully implanted the first pulseless total heart replacement device in a human patient. Dr. Cohn has a passion for medical device development and has more than 90 US patents granted or pending and another 60 international patents for his medical innovations. His numerous awards include an honorary doctorate in science from Oberlin College, the D

Leah Hamilton French was born and raised in Cambridge, MA. The daughter of a museum professional and a craftsman, she had a lot of exposure to the arts as a child. In and out of school she immersed herself in various art forms – piano, signing, ceramics, drawing, and theater. Following her senior year of high school, French combined her love of acting with her interest in making things, competing in the PBS engineering reality show Design Squad: Season 2. In each episode, contestants designed and built solutions to engineering tasks. The best part, according to French, was learning how to use all the tools in the shop. “Before we started filming, they gave us a crash course in the design process, from drafting to test models, to final product. It was really empowering to realize, hey, if I can dream it, I can draw it, and if I can draw it, I can build it.” French attended Wellesley College, where she majored in Anthropology and French Cultural studies, and joined Teach for America shortly after commencement.

Ted Ellis is a world-renowned artist for the past 25 years. “I paint subjects that are representative of the many facets of American life as I know it. I like to think of myself as a creative historian." In the last 20 years, many corporations and Ellis’ private collectors continue to admire and collect his work. A few of the prominent individuals who enjoy his creations are as follows: the late Johnny Cochran, Angela Bassett, Ed Gordon, Blair Underwood, Susan L. Taylor, Bryant Gumbel, Joyce Roche, Spike Lee, and Brad Pitt. A few of the major corporations that have commissioned Ellis include: Walt Disney Studios, The Minute Maid Company, Coca-Cola, Phillip Morris, and Avon, Inc. He has also been featured on local and regional television programs, in magazines such as Upscale and Southern Living, Newsweek, and is frequently featured in newspaper articles throughout the country. His popular art images have been found on book covers and collectible prints.  Highlights Ted discusses the power of art across the b

C-STEM Pedagogy explores the methodology within the C-STEM arena. Dr. Flowers elaborates on the involvement of teachers and parents,  learning practices for students and what does it take to get our children excited about C-STEM.  For more information visit http://cstem.org. 

Lorie Mitchell is the daughter of the late blues singer McKinley Mitchell. She was born in Jackson, MS and was raised in both Houston, TX and Opelousas, LA. She began writing short stories and poems at the age of 16. She attended Southern University A&M College where she majored in Mass Communications and later became the editor for several local advertising magazines in Houston. TX, such as Isispages and i10media's IX Magazine.  Almost a decade later she continued on her passion for writing by attending the Art Institute of Houston majoring in Digital Film and Video Production. Some of her short films include; Jook Joint Blues, Slayers,  #Photobomb, which was recently created for the Houston 48 Hour Film with Christian Torres and currently she is working on an independent web series entitled Journey and a documentary for an at "risk youth" program entitled S.O.L.I.D. M.I.N.D.S. "Society of Leaders Moving In New Directions Successfully". Lorie's film #Photobomb won the Houston 48 Hour Film Challenge Audie

An attorney by trade, but always interested in web development and making awesome things online. Glenn is the co-founder of PopScreen.com, a video prediction website. Technology without the insight on how to market is useless in a lot of ways. Progress Over Perfection Recommends joining websites such as Upwork and Fiverr to promote your basic skills, flexibility, and to make money; “once you make that first dollar online all of sudden the world changes for you.” You can self teach yourself a lot of the skill sets the hardest part is just making sure you’re good enough to follow it through. What do you want to accomplish? Piece together your own outline and do a Google search. Resources; Udemy Lynda Treehouse Quora  Success is the ability to create whatever future you want. In order to have success you have to liberate your time with resources and automate your income.

Jamie Robertson is a native of Houston, Texas. She received a B.A. in Art from the University of Houston in 2012 and a M.S. in Art Therapy from Florida State University in 2014. She currently works at Houston Center for Photography as Outreach Coordinator. She is a member of the American Art Therapy (AATA) and serves on the Multicultural Committee. In addition she is a former recipient of AATA's Pearlie Roberson Award for her joint Frenchtown Mural project. Her personal art explores African American history and her personal genealogy and mythology. Jamie’s other interests include the implementation of art and art therapy for social change and cultural community development. Jamie hopes to use the healing and transformative properties of art to improve her community in Houston. Success is being in a place feeling very comfortable with myself in my life. I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but I’m excited about it.

Dr. Flowers has had the privilege to know Julius since 6th grade as well as involvement with robotics. Julius graduated from Westside High School and attended the University of Texas Austin earning a degree in Electrical Engineering. For the past 2.5 years he has worked at Microsoft based in Washington. Julius spends most days at Microsoft doing diagnostics for cloud applications, “I find problems in software before the customer encounters it.” Julius stays challenged by Microsoft hack-a-thons which creates competition and learning of new technology to apply to his profession. Julius defines success by keep setting goals and trying your hardest to reach them. For more information visit http://cstem.org. 

VEX Robotics works with students from elementary school to college students by developing competition challenges across the world. Karthik believes it’s all about putting great tools in kids hands and giving them an exciting challenge which will inspire them to put down the distractions of video games and social media where they are building and learning about engineering, teamwork, and all sorts of great things. Karthik contributes robotics changed his viewpoint giving me an avenue for his competitive spirit in an educational realm, “being a part of the robotics competition is an exciting atmosphere where you wanted to succeed.” Robotics places you in real world situations with mentors, industry professionals, and how one can have a cool career. We need people that can think critically and solve the big problems on big issues such as climate change and affordable energy. According to Karthik the Urban Nexus theme consist of health, education, and environment; “we need to change education so we can solve prob

Marc Newsome is the owner of Furious Films and has been in the industry for over ten years.  I keep abreast of technology to remain efficient and creative. I have experience in graphic design to give my visual eye. I have experience in photography. Filmmaking is photography combined with storytelling. I made a romantic comedy called What Friends Are For that was played in festivals. I did a short film on gentrification,  Here Comes The Neighborhood that was in a HBO Film Competition. Afterwards I was asked to do professional work.  Challenges: Video gear, lenses, technology, and software gets expensive. As trends and visuals change you want your product to look good within reason. These days you can do great work on your phone. There are visual components in everything. Success is when I get to the point where what I created is as good as what is in my brain.