News from NMTC

First STEM and Beyond Night at North Harford Middle School a HUGE Success

157 students (grades 4-6) participated this past Wdnesday, January 14. These students came to the event with 175 family members (parents and siblings).  Additionally, there were 60 eighth grade ambassadors that helped with set-up and presenter assistance.  The student/family feedback was outstanding.  

The admin from all of the schools (elementary and middle) turned out to greet their families and were extremely supportive in promoting the program prior to the event.

Sarah Morris, Supervisor of Mathematics for HCPS, continues to serve on the committee as the HCPS liaison.  She organized the preliminary meetings with the elementary and middle school to make certain they supported the program.  She also attends each of the HCPS events and plays a key role handling many of the details during set-up and throughout the evening.

While many serve to make this successful at five middle schools, each year, proving hundreds of demonstrations (finding mentors, materials and sceduling rooms), printing 1,000’s of flyers, arranging food for hundreds of exhibitors and individual planning with each school; two stand out – We thank Dr. Diane Lane and Kathy Kunda, from Cecil College,and not just for tireless devotion to the mission, but also for providing the leadership and motivation that allowed the STEM FORUM to achieve this first three-year cycle of reaching every 4th & 5th grader in Cecil and Harford Counties.

All-in all there were about 392 people in the building last night who really enjoyed the program.”

The next STEM Night is scheduled at Bohemia Manor Middle, January 29th. If anyone has an after school activity or club that can be part of the exhibit hall the STEM Night & Beyond team would appreciate your help in recruiting them for Bohemia Manor and Rising Sun (Feb. 5th), in Cecil County. Contact the, via Kathy Kunda, Cecil College, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

STEM Nights & Beyond have become the most community visible part of our regional-wide initiative, the STEM FORUM, a non-profit focusing on uniting resources ( finanancial, subject matter experts, parents, mentors, teachers, industry and government) to expand the pipeline of  STEM qualified students, and in turn, contribute to our country’s increasingly, globally competitive need for engineers, scientists, mathematicians and science literate citizens.

The Academy of Visionary Awards (comprised of all previous Visionary Awards Honorees) is pleased to announce their Visionary Awards Honorees for 2014.

All will be honored at our Visionary Awards Gala, February, 27, 2014 at the Richin Ballroom, Edgewood,MD. Tickets, tables, sponsorships and Ads in the souvenir booklet are now available. See links at the end for details.

Please join with the NMTC and our community to congratulate these extraordinary contributors to STEM Education and Technology Advancement.

2014 Visionary Awards Honorees

VISIONARY – A community role model in advancing STEM Education and/or Technology, for a remarkable period of time.
– Gary Martin, Acting Director, US Army Communications-Electronics Command.

LEADER – Setting the pace for success.
– Suzanne Milchling, Director, US Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center.
– Frank Mezzanotte, Coordinator, Harford County Public Schools (former).

INNOVATOR – Ideas that make a difference.
– Dr. Pamela Lottero-Perdue, Associate Professor, Towson University.
– Jeannine Finton, LEAP Coordinator, Harford County Public Library.

MENTOR – Role models for future generations.
– Suzanne Procell, Chemist, US Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center.
– Anne Shade, Systems Engineer, Liedos.
– Dr. Robert Lieb, Research Physicist, US Army Research Lab (retired).
– Dr. William Prins, Chief Engineer, ATK Aerospace Systems.

RISING STAR – People to watch.
– Carmen Kifer, Chemical Engineer, US Army Chemical Materials Agency.
– Dr. Ann Bizzano, Director Public Relations, American Physical Therapy Association of MD.

What a great presentation. A few members recently attended a LinkedIn tutorial offered by a local training company, and their comments after Amtower’s captivating presentation were; we learn more on the first 4 slides than the 2 hours at that tutorial.

If you missed this opportunity, download Mark Amtower’s presentation, click NMTC-9-January-2014-LinkedIn.pdf

About the presenter:
Mark Amtower is a consultant, speaker, industry spokesperson, author and radio host and is among the most recognized professionals in the government market. He is the founding partner of the government contact advisory firm Amtower & Company, of Highland, Maryland and the co-founder and Co-Director of the Government Market Master™ continuing professional education program at Capitol College in Laurel, Maryland. He has been called “the Godfather of government marketing” and the “best of the best of government marketing gurus” by his peers. He was selected by BtoB magazine as one of the Top 100 Business Marketers in the United States 2008.

The NMTC Board announced its annual membership renewal and Tech Directory Update for 2014. This package enables members to participate in the regions more successful business building activites, just to identify a few:

• Member Events, Member Speaker Series, Visionary Awards Gala, Growing Business Roundtable, NMTC Connects Networking all at free or discounted rates.
• Provide access to senior, influential leaders and experts responsible for $Billions in Defense spending, guiding major programs at APG and in the state. Valuable connections and beneficial introductions made possible at NMTC events.
• Expanded financial support and leadership for our nationally recognized STEM education effort; The STEM Forum, presenting science and technology in exciting ways to thousands of elementary school students, in 20+ schools in NE MD.
• Establishing afterschool science & tech programs aiding the building of your employee pipeline for the future.
• Investing in technology exchange processes among APG, industry, emerging tech companies and aspiring inventors for technology and economic growth.
• Expanded Tech Directory- 2014 edition now underway, to facilitate business development, advertising your business to your target audience and easily finding key connections

The renewal structure, based on number of employees in the region, remains unchanged from prior years and is a corporate membership where your employees may attend all NMTC events at either no-charge or reduced rate.

NMTC members got an insider’s view on “Gambling in Maryland and Beyond: What to Know”. Download presentation Karmel_NMTC_Nov_2013_1.pdf

Maryland has a casino past, we now see gambling popping up everywhere but the future, wow! Technology, especially internet technology will change the industry, change us and create new business opportunities as we compete with neighboring states for the Maryland gambler’s dollars

We learned the odds of can we actually win? We found out just how much casinos make, what is their business/revenue model and strategy is and what we can learn from them for our businesses.

Lastly we learned of the trend that will soon enough ‘creep into our homes and offices’ – mobile gambling.

All in all it was great networking, enjoyed a catered breakfast, and entertained by  the sounds of slot machine bells echoing and the wondering if we took a chance, would  we walk away richer.

All I can say is, this was an exciting meeting at the Hollywood Casino!

Our presenter was Dr. James Karmel, who earned a Ph.D. in History from the University at Buffalo (the State University of New York at Buffalo), with a specialty on American economic history.  He is currently a Professor of History at Harford Community College, where he teaches a business class on casino management.  He is the author of Gambling on the American Dream: Atlantic City and the Casino Era (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2008) and a casino gambling analyst.  His commentary on the casino industry and related topics has appeared in media outlets such as the Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal and Associated Press.

Disasters are inevitable, and today, thanks to expert Darwin Ray, Emergency Management consultant for BioStorage Lab Services, LLC and BioStorage, LLC, an NMTC member company, we learned best ways to protect ourselves, our family and our business. Darwin volunteered his FEMA-based and proprietary , 5 page emergeny/disaster plan checklist which you can DOWNLOAD HERE BioStorage-EP-Checklist.pdf
DOWNLOAD HERE BioStorage-Lab-EP-for-Home-Work-NMTC-Sep2013.pdf

We thank Jack Schammel, of Leading Logic, for hosting this informative member’s meeting. Leading Logic helps clients develop and manage strategic, structural, and cultural changes within their organizations.