The GK-12 program was established at the University of Maine in cooperation with the National Science Foundation in 2002. The purpose of the program encompasses

• Using sensors as a vehicle for exposing secondary school students to the areas of science and engineering
• Encouraging particularly women, minorities and economically disadvantaged students in Maine to pursue careers in science and engineering
• Providing classroom teaching experience to graduate fellows in order to motivate them to choose an academic career
• Increasing the number of people trained in science and engineering in order to satisfy the needs of existing and new high-technology industries

Why Use Sensors?

Sensors inform a large part of everyday life, controlling the cars we drive, the traffic lights we pass, the climate inside our schools and homes. Indeed, sensors are involved with countless aspects of our daily lives. This ubiquitousness makes sensors highly relevant to secondary school students. Furthermore, sensor research is an interdisciplinary field with applications in all areas of science and engineering.

(With more than 30 research grants from government and private companies, and four incubated small businesses, sensors represents the largest research area at the University of Maine.)