With the goal of increasing the number of Latinos in career areas that include science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), Hispanic high school students worked alongside engineers from this energy company to build their own robots.

Lewis “Louie” Binswanger, Senior Vice President of Governmental and Regulatory Affairs at ComEd, stated:

ComEd is committed to diversifying the STEM workforce by providing opportunities for students to build their experience and confidence in this space.

The STEM lab included Latino students from Northern Illinois who worked in teams with ComEd mentors to build, code, and test little robots under the guidance of special guest Dr. Kate Biberdorf, a renowned author, chemist, and science educator.

In addition to networking with mentors and ComEd executives throughout the day, each student received a $250 scholarship upon completion of the program.

Underrepresentation in STEM majors

According to figures shared by the Student Research Foundation, Latin Americans represent 17% of the U.S. workforce, but only 8% of STEM workers, something that occurs due to the fact that Latino students do not take courses in these areas at school, which makes it less likely that they will pursue opportunities that lead to these types of careers.

“ComEd STEM Labs gives Latino students the opportunity to learn about, and be inspired by, the many career possibilities in STEM,” added Binswanger.

To celebrate #HispanicHeritageMonth & encourage more diversity in #STEM, we hosted 50 Latino high school students from the Chicago area to our STEM Labs event. Students spent the day building robots, networking with our engineers & exploring future STEM career opportunities.

— ComEd (@ComEd) October 3, 2022

Evolution of the Programs

• ComEd STEM Labs – Is an evolution of the ComEd Solar Spotlight program, established in 2016, one of many programs ComEd sponsors to encourage more students of color and women to pursue STEM careers.
• ComEd EV Rally: An evolution of the ComEd Icebox Derby program, which educates and empowers young women to explore careers in STEM and become the innovative workforce of the future.

Students, parents and educators interested in receiving notifications about ComEd's upcoming STEM youth programs and when to apply can send their email address to: STEMsignUp.com/ComEd.

About ComEd

It is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation, a Fortune 200 energy company with approximately 10 million electricity and natural gas customers, the largest number of customers in the U.S.