Walking toward the cheering middle school, junior high and high school students in the back of the audience, Selby told them:

“I’m excited to see all of you here today, and I look forward to working with you to dream up a future that’s different and better than today. The world is a complex place with complex problems requiring diversity of thoughts and viewpoints. I want to help give you access to the people and tools that can open your minds to solve these problems. I’m convinced you can do it — do you want to do it?”

After receiving resounding cheers from the students, Selby then turned his attention to the school administrators, teachers, political leaders and parents in the crowd: “To the adults here today, I encourage you to open your minds to accepting young thoughts and ideas. Encourage these students to take risks, to dream and to strive to build a better future — here in Chile, in the U.S. and around the world.”

Selby gave his remarks during the recent launch ceremony of the Women in STEM/STEAM initiative at the Liceo Tecnologico school in Villa Alemana, a town located in the Valparaiso region of Chile. He attended the event with a delegation of leaders from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and ONR Global, the command’s international arm.

The ONR Global-sponsored Women in STEM/STEAM project involves a three-year grant designed to encourage students at Liceo Tecnologico — particularly girls and gender-non-conforming students — to consider careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and the arts (STEM/STEAM). By incorporating the arts aspect, the initiative promotes an integrated approach to learning that encourages students to think more broadly about real-world problems.

The ONR Global office in Santiago, Chile, is overseeing the project in partnership with the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso as well as multiple educational organizations in Villa Alemana and Valparaiso.

The first ONR Global-funded initiative of its kind in Latin America, Women in STEM/STEAM will feature a digital fabrication laboratory — also called a Fab Lab — outfitted with 3D printers, laser-cutting machines and rapid-prototyping equipment that will allow the students to engage in creative, innovative design projects.

In addition, scientists and engineers from the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso will work with teachers at Liceo Tecnologico to create and implement a dynamic curriculum for the Fab Lab. This curriculum will showcase the important roles that 3D printing, rapid prototyping and other techniques play in manufacturing innovation, their impact on real-world challenges, and how they are used in science, engineering and artistic careers.

“All of the students will have opportunities for mentoring and internships with these leaders, particularly women leaders, as role models,” said Dr. Christopher Konek, science director at the ONR Global Santiago office.

“This initiative also blends the best elements of science and art,” he continued. “Artists and scientists are much more similar than anyone thinks. Science takes a lot of creativity to come up with a material no one has created, for example. Art takes a lot of rigor when you think about what it takes to make something like a painting. This initiative is well aligned with that.”

Depending on the success of Women in STEM/STEAM at Liceo Tecnologico, the initiative could potentially be replicated at other schools in Villa Alemana.

“By incorporating elements of both STEM and STEAM, this initiative teaches children to use all parts of their brains and cultivate all of their skills and abilities,” said Richard Glenn, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Chile. “It also recognizes that inclusivity is important to growing a society and strengthening its children, in order to create a better, brighter future.”

The Women in STEM/STEAM event was part of a week-long series of engagements related to the 20th anniversary of ONR Global’s office in Santiago, Chile. ONR Global established the office in 2002 to cultivate scientific collaboration in Chile and throughout Latin America, sponsoring research to discover and advance naval capabilities.