David Wineland, Ph.D.
2012 Nobel Prize in Physics
Dr. Wineland was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics for “groundbreaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems.” His ingenious experiments are advancing the possibility of building a super-fast computer based on quantum physics. Dr. Wineland has worked to increase the precision of atomic spectroscopy, which has now expanded to include the development of more accurate atomic clocks and demonstrations of the basic building blocks of a quantum computer.

Megan J. Smith
Chief Technology Officer of the United States, 2014-2017
Megan Smith served as Chief Technology Officer to guide the Obama Administration’s information-technology policies and initiatives. Previous to assuming her role at the White House, Megan served as VP of Google[x], a Google facility that develops the company’s “moonshots,” or high-achieving technological advancements. She was Vice President of Business Development at Google for nine years and also served as general manager of Google.org, the company’s social impact arm.

J. Craig Venter, Ph.D.
Decoded the Human Genome
2009 Presidential National Medal of Science
Dr. Venter is regarded as one of the leading scientists of the 21st century for his numerous contributions to genomic research. He is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of the J. Craig Venter Institute, a not-for-profit research organization with approximately 300 scientists and staff dedicated to human, microbial, plant, synthetic, and environmental genomic research, and to the exploration of social and ethical issues in genomics. Dr. Venter is also the Founder and CEO of Synthetic Genomics Inc., a privately held company dedicated to commercializing genomic-driven solutions to address global needs such as new sources of energy, new food and nutritional products, and next-generation vaccines.

Aneesh Chopra
Chief Technology Officer of the United States, 2009-2012
Aneesh Chopra is a groundbreaking member of the technology field. Appointed by President Barack Obama, he served as the first Chief Technology Officer of the United States. During his time in office, Aneesh designed the National Wireless Initiative, helped launch Startup America, and executed an “open innovation” strategy across the government. He is the author of the book, “Innovative State: How New Technologies Can Transform Government.”

Cherry Murray, Ph.D.
Dean, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 2009-2014
2012 National Medal of Technology and Innovation
Dr. Murray, currently Director of the Office of Science for the U.S. Department of Energy, has led some of the nation’s most brilliant scientists and engineers as an executive at Bell Laboratories and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In 2002, Discover Magazine named her one of the 50 Most Important Women in Science. She was also awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by the White House in 2014 for contributions to the advancement of devices for telecommunications and the use of light for studying matter, and for leadership in the development of the STEM workforce in the United States. She is a leading researcher in the study of complex fluids like suspensions, foams, and emulsions, and her work has applications for the development of new drug delivery systems.

Sylvester James Gates, Jr., Ph.D.
2013 National Medal of Science for Physical Science
Dr. Gates is one of America’s most renowned theoretical physicists. In 2013, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and became the first African-American physicist so recognized in its 150-year history. He is especially known for his work on supersymmetry, supergravity, and superstring theory. Dr. Gates is currently a Professor of Physics at Brown University; the Director of the String and Particle Theory Center, and Affiliate Professor of Mathematics. He serves on the U.S. President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology, on the National Commission on Forensic Science, and on the Maryland State Board of Education.

Dean Kamen
2000 National Medal of Technology and Innovation
Legendary Inventor
Dean Kamen is a globally renowned inventor with over 440 U.S. and foreign patents. His past inventions include the Segway, the first wearable insulin pump for diabetics, and a water purification system for use in third-world countries that can run on “anything that burns,” including manure. Dean and his team are currently working on an advanced prosthetic arm that will advance the quality of life for returning injured soldiers. He is also the founder of FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a groundbreaking organization dedicated to motivating the next generation to understand, use, and enjoy science and technology.

Robert S. Langer, Ph.D.
2006 National Medal of Science
2011 National Medal of Technology and Innovation
Dr. Langer is a renowned Professor at MIT. He has over 1,100 issued and pending patents, which have been licensed or sublicensed to over 300 companies. He is one of the very few individuals elected to the National Academies of Medicine, Engineering, Sciences, and Inventors. He is one of four living individuals to receive both the United States National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. He has also received the Wolf Prize for Chemistry and the Lemelson MIT prize for being “one of history’s most prolific inventors in medicine.” Dr. Langer holds 27 honorary doctorates, including degrees from Harvard and Yale.

Silvia A. Earle, Ph.D.
Explorer in Residence at the National Geographic Society
Founder, Sylvia EarleAlliance/Mission Blue and Deep Ocean Exploration and Research Inc.
Sylvia A. Earle, Ph.D., is an author of more than 200 publications and leader of more than 100 expeditions with over 7,000 hours underwater. Dr. Earle’s research concerns the ecology and conservation of marine ecosystems and development of technology for access to the deep sea. She is the subject of the Emmy Award-Winning Netflix documentary, Mission Blue; was named TIME magazine’s first Hero for the Planet and a Living Legend by the Library of Congress; and is a winner of the 2009 TED Prize, the Royal Geographic Society 2011 Patron’s Medal and the National Geographic 2013 Hubbard Medal.

Richard Browning
Founder and Chief Test Pilot, Gravity Industries Ltd.
Richard Browning is an ultra-marathon runner, an ex-Royal Marine reservist, a former city commodity trader and a pioneering inventor. He defines his approach to life as one pursuing ‘innovation and endeavor’. Mr. Browning co-founded Gravity Industries Ltd., the company behind the Daedalus Mark 1, a flight suit that uses six miniature jet engines to achieve vertical flight. In November 2017, Mr. Browning set a world record for the fastest speed in a body-controlled jet engine-powered suit, by reaching a speed of 32.02 mph.

Marc Raibert, Ph.D.
Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Boston Dynamics
Throughout his career, Dr. Raibert has made vast changes to the field of robotics. He is CTO and Founder of Boston Dynamics, which develops some of the world’s most advanced, dynamic robots, such as BigDog, Atlas, Cheetah, SandFlea and the AlphaDog. These robots are inspired by the remarkable ability of animals to move with agility, mobility, speed, and grace.

Amy S. Hess
Executive Assistant Director of the FBI’s Science and Technology Branch
Amy Hess is an FBI Special Agent and Executive Assistant Director of the FBI’s Science and Technology Branch, the single largest branch of the FBI, with over 6,000 employees and a budget of more than half a billion dollars. In this role, she is responsible for the executive oversight of the Criminal Justice Information Services, Laboratory, and Operational Technology Divisions.

Neil Gershenfeld, Ph.D.
Director of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms
MIT’s innovative scientist Dr. Gershenfeld is redefining the boundaries between the digital and analog worlds. His Center for Bits and Atoms has developed answers for “what comes next,” including Internet 0, a tiny web server that fits into light bulbs and doorknobs, networking the physical world in previously unimaginable ways. Dr. Gershenfeld is best known as a pioneer in personal fabrication— small-scale manufacturing enabled by digital technologies, which gives people the tools to build literally anything they can imagine.

Robert M. Metcalfe, Ph.D.
Inventor of the Ethernet, Founder of 3Com
2003 National Medal of Technology and Innovation
Dr. Metcalfe is a true internet pioneer and technology giant who invented Ethernet at the legendary Xerox PARC and founded 3Com Corporation. In 2005, he received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation for his leadership in the invention, standardization, and commercialization of Ethernet. Dr. Metcalfe is now Emeritus Partner at Polaris Venture Partners. He is an MIT Life Trustee Emeritus and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Rainer Weiss, Ph.D.
2017 Nobel Prize in Physics
Professor of Physics, Emeritus at MIT
Dr. Weiss is a Professor Emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is known for his pioneering measurements of the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation, his inventions of the monolithic silicon bolometer and the laser interferometer gravitational wave detector, and his roles as a co-founder and an intellectual leader of both the COBE (microwave background) Project and the LIGO (gravitational-wave detection) Project. Dr. Weiss is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society, and The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he is a member of the American Astronomical Society, the New York Academy of Sciences, and Sigma Xi.

Rana El Kaliouby, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Affectiva
Dr. Kaliouby’s work at Affectiva, an MIT spin-off, brings Emotional Artificial Intelligence to digital devices. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Wired, Forbes, Fast Company, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNN, CBS, TIME, and Fortune. A TED speaker, she was also named in Wired’s NEXT list of 25 geniuses who will change how we do business, 2012 Technology Review’s “Top 35 Innovators Under 35,” Entrepreneur’s “7 Most Powerful Women To Watch In 2014”, Ad Age’s “40 under 40,” was inducted into the “Women in Engineering” Hall of Fame, and recipient of Smithsonian magazine’s 2015 American Ingenuity Award for Technology.

Cynthia Breazeal, Sc.D.
Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, MIT MediaLab
Founder & Chief Scientist of Jibo, Inc.
Cynthia Breazeal, Sc.D., is a pioneer of social robotics and human-robot interaction. She has developed some of the world’s most famous robotic creatures ranging from small hexapod robots to embedding robotic technologies into familiar everyday artifacts, to creating highly expressive humanoid robots and robot characters. Her research focuses on developing the principles, techniques, and technologies for personal robots that are socially intelligent, interact and communicate with people in human-centric terms, work with humans as peers, and learn from people as an apprentice.

Kenneth Lacovara, Ph.D.
Dean, School of Earth &Environment at Rowan University
Director, Jean & Ric Edelman Fossil Park
Kenneth Lacovara, Ph.D., famously unearthed some of the largest dinosaurs ever to walk our planet, including the super-massive Dreadnoughtus, which at 65 tons weighs more than seven T.Rex. By using the modern technologies of 3D imaging, 3D printing, robotics, and medical modeling techniques, Dr. Lacovara’s work is helping to shift our perspective of giant herbivorous dinosaurs from their historic portrayal as hapless lumbering prey to that of fearsome, hulking, hyper-efficient eating machines. Dr. Lacovara led the effort to create the Rowan University Fossil Park in suburban Mantua Township, New Jersey. The quarry preserves a rich cache of marine fossils that Dr. Lacovara is using to shed light on the calamitous events that wiped out the dinosaurs.

Asu Ozdaglar, Ph.D.
Department Head of ElectricalEngineering and ComputerScience, MIT
Asu Ozdaglar, Ph.D., is the department head of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is also the Joseph F. and Nancy P. Keithley Professor of EECS. Her research expertise includes optimization theory and game theory, with applications in communication, social, and economic networks; distributed optimization and control; and network analysis with special emphasis on contagious processes, systemic risk, and dynamic control. Dr. Ozdaglar is the recipient of a Microsoft fellowship, the MIT Graduate Student Council Teaching Award and the NSF Career Award. 

Sheldon Glashow, Ph.D.
1979 Nobel Prize in Physics
Sheldon Glashow, Ph.D., is an American theoretical physicist who received the 1979 Nobel Prize for Physics for his work on the electroweak theory, which explains the unity of electromagnetism and the weak force. Dr. Glashow also developed theories regarding quarks, or elementary particles, and is credited with advancing our understanding of these particles with the proposal of a new quark called a charm. Shortly after receiving the Nobel Prize, Dr. Glashow became a professor at Boston University, where he continues to teach. He is conducting research in several areas, including the Big Bang Theory, electroweak symmetry breaking, dark matter, and cosmology.

Bill Westenhofer
Two-time Academy Award Winner for Best Visual Effects
Bill Westenhofer, one of the most accomplished and respected visual effects artists today, is the winner of the 2007 and 2013 Oscars for Best Visual Effects for “The Golden Compass” and “Life of Pi,” respectively. He was Visual Effects Supervisor on 2016’s “Warcraft.” In 2005, he supervised a team of 400 digital artists on “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.

Burnie Burns
Founder, Chief Creative Officer and Head Writer, Rooster TeethProductions

Mike Rhodin
Former Senior Vice President, IBM Watson
Mike Rhodin lead the Watson division at IBM. Watson is one of the most significant innovations in IBM’s 103-year history and represents a new era of information technology. IBM Watson is charged with accelerating a new class of “cognitive” software, services, and apps that will fuel a diverse cloud-based ecosystem of enterprises, academic institutions, and entrepreneurs.

Jay Hammonds
VIP Operations at Facebook
Jay Hammonds currently works on the VIP Operations team in support and technical project management for the CEO & COO at Facebook. His primary objective is to ensure the executives are efficient and effective from a technical standpoint while providing creative technical solutions for the IT organization. Prior to his time with Facebook, he led IT for Instagram. In 2012, Mr. Hammonds helped create Year Up at Facebook, which has helped bring in over 150 diverse interns. Mr. Hammonds was named in Forbes’ 30 Under 30.

Stanley G. Love, Ph.D.
NASA Astronaut
Stanley G. Love, Ph.D., was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1998. He has a Master of Science degree and Doctorate of Astronomy. In 2008, Dr. Love flew aboard STS-122 to deliver and install the European Space Agency’s Columbus module to the station. While onboard, Dr. Love performed two spacewalks to prepare for the installation, added two science payloads, and carried a failed ISS gyroscope to the shuttle for return to Earth. He currently works as a crew representative for the Space Launch System (SLS) and continues to help plan for the human exploration of asteroids, the moon, and Mars.

Rikard Steiber
President, Viveport and Senior Vice President of Virtual Reality, HTC
Rikard Steiber is a virtual reality evangelist and an angel investor, looking for great start-up teams that want to change the world. Viveport, the app store for virtual reality (VR), is a global destination for VR content and experiences. Its mission is to unleash human imagination from the limitations of reality and democratize access to the world’s most diverse selection of immersive experiences. HTC Vive is a first-of-its-kind virtual reality platform designed by HTC and Valve. In addition to his roles at Viveport and HTC, Mr. Steiber is the founder of Women in Tech and Women in VR in Europe.

The Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders Award of Excellence
The Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders Award of Excellence will be issued after the Delegate takes an open book pass/fail exam to demonstrate their attendance at the Congress.

In a COVID-19 world, high-achieving students have lost so many opportunities to distinguish themselves and showcase their talents. The Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders Award of Excellence is used by Delegates in college, scholarship, and internship applications.

College Credit
Delegates are eligible to earn one college credit, after demonstrating their attendance at the Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders, at an additional cost and upon completion of additional coursework. Complete information will be provided upon enrollment.

College credit will demonstrate to universities and other institutions that you have already completed college-level academic work.

Nomination
Students are nominated to become Delegates by their teachers, counselors, and principals based on their dedication to entering the STEM fields, their leadership potential, and their academic excellence. Qualified students may also be identified through other means such as academic events, recommendations, youth organizations, honor societies, STEM institutions and societies, program Alumni, and in-classroom surveys.

Proof of GPA
The Congress is an academic honors program. Students must have a minimum 3.5 GPA (or equivalent), either current or cumulative to attend. Unless students are selected by a teacher, they must provide the Academy with documentation of their GPA.

If a student attends without having provided GPA documentation, they will still be allowed to participate in the Congress, but they will not receive their Award of Excellence until documentation is provided.

Financial Assitance
A limited number of scholarships based on financial need are available. Interested families should email the Office of Admissions at Scholarship@TheNationalLeadershipAcademies.com or call (617) 307-7425.

Students with Special Needs
The Academy encourages the participation of students with special needs, including students with disabilities. Students, parents, guardians, legal representatives, and educators are encouraged to contact the Academy directly for more information and to discuss any specific needs.

News Release
Students will be able to create their own news releases using an easy-to-follow program the Academy has developed. Included are instructions on distributing the release to local newspapers and television stations so students can gain maximum recognition of their accomplishments.

Letters of Participation
The Academy will, upon request, supply letters certifying the student’s participation and matriculation in the Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders. These letters can be sent to colleges and universities as well as organizations offering grants and scholarships.

The Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders Award of Excellence
Delegates may attend the Congress of Science and Technology Leaders from any location in the world that has a good Internet connection using a laptop, tablet or smartphone.

The Congress is an interactive honors program with frequent live video interaction and bonding between Delegates. Delegates will converse and complete numerous exercises in small groups to network and build friendships with future colleagues and collaborators.

Nominated students may attend any of the following three scheduled dates to earn their Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders Award of Excellence:

• October 2 and 3, 2021
• March 19 and 20, 2022

Tuition is 3 payments of $325. Payments will be automatically charged on the credit card supplied every 30 days until the full tuition is paid. Tuition includes instruction, speakers, education personnel, the Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders Award of Excellence, and all activities at the Congress.

Also, as an additional educational benefit, Delegates may attend both Congresses at no additional cost.

Will Attending the Congress Help a Student Gain Admission to a Competitive College?
The education, motivation, and recognition at the Congress can inspire students to take the personal action necessary to become much stronger candidates for competitive college admission.

Attendance at the Congress can also enrich their academic profile by adding to their showcase of extracurricular experience and achievement when they apply to colleges and universities, especially during a time when COVID-19 has made fewer academic enrichment activities available.

Parent and Family Attendance
Parents and families are also encouraged to attend the Congress from any location in the world that has a good Internet connection using a laptop, tablet or smartphone. This allows for rich and meaningful “dinner table” conversations between parents and Delegates, as Delegates are motivated and inspired to see a bigger and brighter future for themselves during the Congress.

About the National Academy of Future STEM Innovators
The Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders is sponsored by the National Academy of Future STEM Innovators.

The National Academy of Future STEM Innovators was chartered as a nonpartisan, taxpaying institution working outside government in a public-private partnership to identify, encourage and mentor students who wish to devote their lives to the STEM fields.

The Academy accepts no public money. Extensive free services will be self-funded through proceeds from events and conferences.

Questions?
If you have questions, please call the Office of Admissions at (617) 307-7425 or email Admissions@TheNationalLeadershipAcademies.com.