By Terri Bernhardt

Benn Aaronson officially came on board mid-June to create and implement a regional Team Orlando resource for Central Florida in regards to STEM. His role will be to work within the community through schools, councils and existing programs to better serve STEM efforts. “STEM is like the wild west,” Mr. Aaronson said. “Team Orlando has the knowledge and ability to make a difference — we need only to focus the capabilities and efforts we already have to be the national model of how STEM can work.”

Benn Aaronson’s previous experience goes back 25 years working in Orlando in all phases of engineering and program management. He was also Deputy Director at the DoD Modeling and Simulation Coordination Office and helped craft the Department of Defense STEM vision. Mr. Aaronson retired after 30 years of Navy civil service and he has a strong passion for STEM. He stated, “After witnessing first-hand the developing of training systems for decades I have seen such great enthusiasm about our technology. Team Orlando can utilize its experience developing multi-million dollar training solutions and tools to train, teach and gain interest of our young people.”

He gave his general concern about the lack of number of students coming out in the STEM fields ” We are a nation of innovators and we need to keep that competitive edge,” Mr. Aaronson emphasized. “Our kids needs this, it is the future of the country.”

When asked why he accepted the position as STEM Advocate Mr. Aaronson stated, “I think we can make a difference. The wheels are in motion and our focus is on the teachers and students.”

How can you help STEM? Please contact Benn Aaronson:stemadvocate@teamorlando.org

People who read this article also found these articles interesting :