Two Guyanese, Bradley Downer and Stephanie Simon, have been nominated for two separate international awards in the fields of education and technology.
Downer’s work in Foundation Robotics, Crash Coding and MRT Programming as a STEM Guyana Coach saw him being nominated for the Educator of the Year category as part of US-based company STEMedia Network’s programme. Simon has been nominated for the Technologist of the Year category.
“For me, it is good to see that my work is valued,” Downer said. “It is exciting to be nominated for an international award. It has also given me the drive to continue breaking barriers and to keep doing what I’m doing.”
His work goes beyond the borders. He explained that he has collaborated with two friends — one in Liberia and the other in South Africa — on several STEM projects to teach youths in these parts of the world.
Aside from coaching sessions with STEM Guyana, through invitations from schools, he has done sessions where he introduced students to STEM, guided them through practicals and shared with them careers in STEM they can pursue. His most recent sessions focused on Android developments, various Information and Communications Technology (ICT) concepts and Augmented Reality (AR).
Meanwhile, he and Simon along with Kenita Roberts are also the hosts of a podcast called ‘Stemmy Conversations’ where they have discussions with locals and internationals involved in STEM. On this podcast they share further on the various careers in STEM.
Downer noted that STEM is more than what people believe, which is that it is all about robotics and coding. Among the numerous careers in STEM, he mentioned medicine, artificial intelligence, geology, and virology. The podcast also enlightens listeners on some of the universities where they can pursue these careers.
A coach at Lichfield STEM Club, Downer said the pandemic means the club is unable to meet in a physical setting. So far, the only time several of them met was in preparation for the annual International Youth Robot Competition (IYRC). The club competed at the IYRC this year and was awarded a bronze medal.
Earlier this year, Downer was the recipient of a regional award where he was one of 30 Caribbean nationals announced as an Under-30 Emerging Leaders/Changemakers.
Having been recognized for his contributions in the area of youth, social movement and empowerment, the first-year Government Technical Institute computer science student has been invited to attend the Global Youth Leadership Summit 2021 in Nepal, from November 18 – 21, 2021, where he will be presented with the Global Youth Leadership Award 2021.
He was also awarded for his constant AR contribution to the Developer Circle group in Pune, India.
He went on to be nominated for the Bangladesh Digital Social Innovation Forum Global Peace and Humanitarian 2021 Award.
Recently, the STEM coach was awarded a scholarship by Avasant Foundation Guyana and is currently pursuing digital skills in Microsoft 365, Project Management, Website Building and UX (user experience) and UI (user interface) Designer Programs. He was also granted an oil and gas scholarship by the Ministry of Education-Guyana.
Last year, the ambitious Downer was the recipient of the Udacity/Bertelsmann Technology Scholarship Program. He also finished as a finalist.
As regards the Educator of the Year and Technologist of the Year awards, people have the opportunity now to vote for Downer and Simon. The awardees will be announced at the annual STEMedia Success Summit hosted by STEMedia Network from November 17 – 20. Downer said that through networking persons may also be granted scholarships in STEM at a US-based university.
https://www.stemsuccesssummit.com/summit-awards is the link where votes can be cast. Voters will be directed to create a Whova account, if they do not already have one, to be able to view the list of nominees, select one then click on the submit option to successfully register their votes.
