STEM
On Another Apollo Anniversary, a Reminder: IBM Space Technology Continues to Evolve
History’s publicists have done well by Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong’s first moon steps in July 1969. However, fewer recall the Apollo 12 lunar mission four months later. It almost didn’t happen. On Nov. 14, 1969, in the first minute after lift-off, two lightning bolts struck Apollo 12. The spacecraft’s main power supply went dark, […]
How a NASA Flight Controller’s Quick Thinking Saved Apollo 12
Less than a minute after Apollo 12 lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 14, 1969, it was struck twice by lightning. The electrical surges knocked out the main on-board power supply and disrupted the telemetry feed that was sending data from the command module to NASA controllers on the ground. Their monitor […]
The Apollo 11 Lessons We Live by Today
In 1969, more than 4,000 IBMers worked alongside NASA to land Apollo 11 on the moon. And for each day of the many months they worked writing code, programming computers and running simulations, they never stopped thinking: What else could we do? What contingency can we plan for? What are we forgetting? In fact, it […]
IBM & NASA: Working Side-by-Side to Land on the Moon
This Saturday, July 20th, is the 50th anniversary of one of humanity’s greatest technological achievements: landing people on the Moon, and subsequently returning them safely to Earth. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy challenged Americans to reach the Moon by the end of the decade, and in 1969 an extraordinary collaboration between the public and […]
Nova Scotia Taps into Tomorrow’s Potential
The Government of Nova Scotia continually works to support the future potential of our students and help create opportunities for young people to see a future for themselves in our province. We are pleased to announce a new option for students through a unique IBM-inspired program that will provide more opportunity in the information technology […]
In Their Own Words: Leading Women in Tech Confront the Gender Gap
With only a quarter of U.S. technology jobs currently filled by women[1], there is far more we must do as an industry to close the gender gap. And let’s be clear, closing the gender quality gap benefits society as a whole; there is a strong correlation between business performance and a gender diverse workforce; companies […]
Women of Color in STEM Take Center Stage at the Oscars
When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences holds the 89th Oscars this Sunday, I’ll be rooting for “Hidden Figures” to win Best Picture, and Octavia Spencer to win Best Supporting Actress. Since both Black History Month and National Engineers Week occur in February, it would be great if during this month, the movie […]
Revealing the ‘Hidden Figures’ of STEM
Watch this short video on the making of the inspirational, Hidden Figures, a movie based on the acclaimed book of the same name that chronicles the early lives of three remarkable African American women who helped NASA calculate man’s first orbital flights around Earth.
Bringing ‘Hidden Figures’ of Innovation to STEM
When I saw the movie Hidden Figures, I was struck by the determination of the so-called human “computers” – the African-American women whose mathematical calculations made it possible for astronaut John Glenn to be launched into orbit during the 1960s Space Race that coincided with American advances in Civil Rights. The inspiring stories of these […]