Chemours Celebrates the Anniversary of ChemFEST With Engaging Science Day for Students at Its R&D Center
When we launched the Chemours Future of Engineering, Science, Trades, and Technology (ChemFEST) school partnership program on National STEM Day in 2021, our goal was to champion change toward a more diverse science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workforce.
Research shows that proficiency and interest in STEM are most influential when initiated before students reach high school and begin choosing their courses. With this top of mind, we committed to investing in under-resourced middle schools in our footprint communities worldwide to ensure that younger students are exposed to STEM education early on.
Our first two partner schools to join the program, EastSide Charter School and Serviam Girls Academy, both located near Chemours' Wilmington, Delaware headquarters, received multi-year financial support for STEM learning activities and lab equipment, in addition to a range of volunteer and program collaborations with Chemours employees.
On our recent Global Corporate Responsibility Commitment Day, we hosted students from both schools for a day of inspiring conversation and experiential learning at our research and development center, the Chemours Discovery Hub. It was an enriching experience that provided the students with up-close access to see innovative chemistry in action.
Students participated in exciting demos that explored the science of cooling – from the future of data center cooling to quick freezing popsicles – to getting a front-row seat to the clean energy transition and learning about the critical fluoropolymer membranes at the center of hydrogen fuel cells.
Customized to meet the needs of each school and local community where Chemours operates, all ChemFEST programs include multi-year financial support as part of Chemours' Corporate Responsibility Commitment goal to invest $50 million to create and sustain vibrant communities. The time, talent, financial resources, and expertise of Chemours and its employees are also used to help meet each school's needs to engage and inspire the next generation of STEM professionals.
