By Michael Foster-Sanders/campus editor

TCC students won top awards in science and engineering divisions during a conference at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Of the 55 students’ posters presented at the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation conference, six were selected for recognition. TCC students won three of the six poster awards.

NE biology professor Jean Maines said how proud she was of the students who competed and held their own against other colleges and universities.

“Students participated in this program along with undergraduates from eight University of Texas system schools as well as students from five other Texas community colleges,” she said. “It was a huge accomplishment for community college students to take home the top awards at the conference, especially, as they were competing against junior- and senior-level students from top UT system universities.”

The Stokes program aims to diversify the nation’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics workforce by increasing the number of STEM degrees awarded to populations historically underrepresented in these disciplines.

Maines spoke about how STEM is affecting campuses across the TCC district.

“It’s an opportunity for our students to get high-level exposure to research at the university similar to what a junior or a senior would be receiving at UT Arlington,” she said.