Dr. Calvin Mackie (seen above), president and CEO of the nonprofit firm STEM NOLA, provided the general session keynote address at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
[Above photo by AASHTO]
During his speech, he called on attendees to make a difference in their communities through transportation.
“Engineers are purveyors of hope in the communities that they serve,” Dr. Mackie said. “Because hope is not a four-letter word. Hope is real. Hope will whisper ‘maybe’ when the world is screaming ‘no.’ Hope is about creating safer and smarter communities for everybody.”
An award-winning mentor, inventor, author, former engineering professor, internationally renowned speaker, and successful entrepreneur, Dr. Mackie founded STEM NOLA in 2013 to expose, inspire, and engage communities in the opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics or STEM.
To date, STEM NOLA has engaged over 70,000 kindergarten through 12th grade students in hands-on project-based STEM activities. In 2021, he launched STEM Global Action to advance K-12 STEM education across the United States and the world.