Gill Spends Spring Break Getting Schoolchildren Excited about Engineering

HOUGHTON, MI (03/11/2014)(readMedia)-- This week is Spring Break at Michigan Technological University. And for eight black engineering students, it's a chance to connect with and inspire school children in the Detroit Public Schools to set their sights on university studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Some of the Michigan Tech students, all members of Tech's chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, are from the Detroit area themselves. They know how hard it can be to raise your aspirations.

Among the NSBE students is Marquis Gill, a chemical engineering major who attended Saint Johns High School.

NSBE's Alternative Spring Break is conducted in collaboration with the Detroit Public Schools Office of Science and Detroit Math and Science Center, and funded in part, with a grant from John Deere.

Michigan Technological University (www.mtu.edu) is a leading public research university developing new technologies and preparing students to create the future for a prosperous and sustainable world. Michigan Tech offers more than 130 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in engineering; forest resources; computing; technology; business; economics; natural, physical and environmental sciences; arts; humanities; and social sciences.