[6/2/2010]--As stated at http://beta.pltw.org/about-us/our-history, “Project Lead The Way (PLTW) was created to address the United States’ need for more leaders in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). “ It started in 1986, when Richard Blais, chairman of the Technology Department in the Shenendehowa Central School District in upstate New York, began offering pre-engineering and digital electronics classes to encourage students to study engineering. Today, more than 300,000 students are engaged in PLTW classes in approximately 3,500 schools nationwide. At the relative early stages of its existence, the Mechanical Engineering Department at UMBC recognized the transformative potential of such a national initiative and through visionary leadership helped UMBC become the PLTW affiliate university in the mid-Atlantic region in 2004.

For more information about the Project Lead the Way Summer Training Institute click here.

Original Story: https://www.me.umbc.edu/node/149/edit