Stephen R. Macminn Has Been Elected to the Board of the Challenger Learning Center of Tech Valley

SCHENECTADY, NY (02/14/2009)(readMedia)-- Stephen R. MacMinn has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Challenger Learning Center for Tech Valley.

MacMinn is the Chief Technology Officer at GlobalSpec, Inc. in Rennselaer. As a member of the corporation's executive team, he provides technical direction and business insight. According to Heidi DeBlock, Challenger board president, MacMinn "will be an outstanding asset on our Board with his knowledge and background in so many aspects of science and technology, including engineering, information systems, telecom and networking, and software development."

Prior to joining GlobalSpec, MacMinn was with GE Corporate Research & Development in Schenectady. He holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University, and earned his Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell in 1981 and his Bachelor of Science degree from Lehigh University in 1978. He holds 13 United States and international patents.

The Challenger Learning Center for Tech Valley will be a catalyst for career pathways in science, math and engineering for middle-school students to help develop the future work force of New York State's Tech Valley. The Center, which will be based in the Schenectady Museum of Science and Technology, will initially serve 10,000 middle-school students from 93 school districts in the 19-county Capital Region, and 35,000 students from 77 districts in the surrounding counties.

The students will learn science curriculum, problem-solving and teamwork as they run and participate in more than 300 simulated space missions. The simulator is patterned after NASA's Mission Control operation in Houston and the interior of a Space Station.

The Challenger Learning Center is one of a network of similar Space Education Centers throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

For more information on how to become involved with Tech Valley's Challenger Learning Center, please contact Executive Director Norm Miller at (518) 864-7073.