ECB

Santtu Hokkanen is construction engineer and working as a planning manager for NCC Finland. Before heading for planning sector he has, previous 10 years, been working as building site manager, constructing and counselling apartment buildings. He has been responsible for over 300 apartments including onefamilyhouses. He has also built two houses on his own, from the scratch, for his family and now planning the third one. He´s into green construction and energysaving elements.NCC’s business sectors include construction, housing, property development and infrastructure construction. Optiplan is a full-service design office included in the NCC Group.

Dr. Peter Y. Wong is Director of University Relations at the Museum of Science and directs the Middle School Engineering Curriculum Development.  He works with colleges and universities to connect on sponsored projects related to current science and technology, public understanding of research, informal science education, and professional development for educators.  In curriculum development, Peter has developed the Building Math program that integrates Algebra and Engineering in the classroom and is published by Walch Publishing.  He has also worked on analyzing DoD STEM webisodes for classroom use.   He is now leading the development of Engineering Now, a new program that aligns to NGSS and features WGBH Design Squad shows, hands-on activities, and career connections.  He travels to promote the Museum’s National Center for Technological Literacy and supports a project funded by the European Union efforts to bring engineering into their science centers and schools.

Dr. Wong is also a Research Associate Professor in the Tufts Mechanical Engineering Department.  He teaches undergraduate course in thermal/fluid sciences and instruments and experiments.  His research interests are in heat transfer, materials processing, comparative biomechanics, nano-micro systesm, biomedical devices, and advanced energy systems. He has published over 90 papers in conferences and journals and applied for several patents.  In the private sector, Dr. Wong is founder of a STEM after-school program in Newton, MA and co-founder of a new transmedia STEM education company. Dr. Wong also serves on the Board for the Massachusetts State Science and Engineering Fair.

Dr. Yvonne Spicer is a national and international speaker and advocate for pre-college science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. Spicer was honored in 2009 by Mass High Tech: The Journal of New England Technology as one of 10 "Women to Watch." Concerned by how many children in the U.S. "are shut out of technology and engineering," Spicer makes a compelling case for closing the underrepresented minority gap in engineering and school leadership.

With expertise in technology and engineering education standards development, assessment, and strategic school leadership, Spicer served on the technology and engineering steering committee for the frontrunner of the first national assessment for technology and engineering in the 2014 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Most recently, she served on the technology and engineering design team for the National Research Council (NRC) "Next Generation": Framework for Science Education which was approved July 19, 2011.

In January 2010, Spicer was appointed to the Massachusetts Governor's STEM Advisory Council as the co-chair of the council's teacher development committee. She was instrumental in establishing the 2001 Massachusetts technology/engineering curriculum framework with Ioannis (Yannis) Miaoulis, president and director, Museum of Science. She is also an advisor to the National Governors Association.

In addition, Spicer advocates for the Museum's K-12 curricula, Engineering is Elementary®, Building Math, and Engineering the Future®, and she directs the Gateway Project, which originated in Massachusetts and is being replicated across the U.S. as a model to build leadership capacity for technological literacy. Designed to guide systemic change, the Gateway Project helps school districts develop a strategic plan of action to implement K-12 technology and engineering programs. The Gateway community totals over 400 educational leaders representing 80 urban, suburban, and rural school districts.

Earning her doctorate at the University of Massachusetts-Boston in 2004, she focused her dissertation on how nine African American female public school principals transformed their schools and thrived as educational leaders. Spicer is the former director of career & technical education in Newton, Mass., and served as the statewide technology/engineering coordinator at the Mass. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. She earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in industrial arts & technology from the State University of New York-Oswego. A Brooklyn, New York, native, she is committed to improving opportunities for females and students of color in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.