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nistem resource center

Who We Are

Building Future-Ready Minds in Northeast Indiana

NISTEM represents the Northeast Indiana Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Resource Center, focused on enhancing STEM literacy. It supports STEAM—Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics—an educational approach integrating artistic creativity with technical skills to boost innovation and critical thinking. 

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A Legacy of Learning

Our History

Since its founding in 2007, the NISTEM Center has been a cornerstone of regional education and innovation. Originally developed through a joint proposal by PFW and Science Central for the BioCrossroads initiative, the center thrives on a legacy of community support. The center also received financial support, in part, from a grant from the National Center for Outreach, submitted by WFWA PBS39 in partnership with PFW and supported by the Fort Wayne Convention and Visitors Bureau.

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Fueling Lifelong Discovery

Our Mission

In partnership with regional stakeholders, NISTEM supports, highlights, and unites education systems, informal education centers, and businesses to foster lifelong engagement in STEAM-related activities across northeast Indiana. The center works to increase community involvement through diverse educational initiatives and regular regional events.

Partners in Progress

STEM Initiative

The I-STEM Resource Network is a partnership of Indiana’s public and private higher education institutions, K–12 schools, business, and government. It supports K–12 teachers and leaders working to implement high academic standards towards STEM literacy for all students. The network also provides Indiana education leaders with new knowledge about teaching and learning.

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NISTEM COLLABORATORS

Partners

Below are some of NISTEM's business, education, and school system partners. If you would like to become a partner, please contact us.

Allen County, the City of Fort Wayne, the Greater Fort Wayne Partnership, and the Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority contract with the Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance, a private, nonprofit organization, to attract and retain quality jobs for residents by strengthening existing base employers and attracting new employers.

FORT WAYNE/ALLEN COUNTY CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU

The Convention AND Visitors Bureau conducts marketing AND sales programs to attract visitors to our community's convention facilities AND tourism attractions, so our citizens can benefit economically AND socially from a prosperous tourism industry.

The Innovation Center is a place dedicated to developing ideas and growing businesses. We believe this can be done by fostering an environment of innovation and providing a wealth of essential business resources to accelerate growth.  The center nurtures technology businesses by developing ventures through the start-up, early development, and growth stages. The Innovation Center is all about growth. Growth in the economy, growth in jobs, and the growth of dynamic new companies with great new ideas—and we're succeeding!

WORKONE NORTHEAST is the collection of resources working toward developing a skilled workforce in northeast Indiana.

Allen County Education Partnership works to improve academic achievement among youth through partnerships among business, community, and education. Those partnerships provide schools with additional resources, the community with a proactive citizenry, and businesses with the basis for an informed and skilled workforce.

The Allen County Parks seek to establish and manage a permanent park system that incorporates conservation, education, outdoor values, and nature preservation, and to provide recreational opportunities for the people of Allen County within this structure.

A discussion forum for educators, community leaders, and business partners to discuss innovative uses of broadband technology. Facilitated by the PFW Division of Continuing Studies and ACELINK.

The Allen County Public Library is a service institution. It seeks to inform, educate, entertain, and culturally enrich the entire community by providing free access to books and other library materials, facilities, and professional services for all residents.

Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society’s mission is to serve present and future generations by collecting, preserving, and sharing artifacts, documents, and images that describe the people, places, and andevents that define the history of Fort Wayne and Allen County.

Our vision is to be the leader in presenting the history, customs, traditions, and heritage of Fort Wayne and Allen County to the community through creative, innovative techniques. Ways we seek to accomplish our mission and vision are to:

  • Serve as the community’s primary resource for historical knowledge and heritage education.
  • Continue to be a vibrant organization devoted to presenting Allen County's heritage for all to share and cherish.

The Franklin Electric Foundation provides financial support to the outreach staff of PFW's College of Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science, enabling the coordination of a series of competitions, special events, and educational support for local schools.

Surround yourself with nature at the Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory—an oasis in the heart of downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. Visit the Showcase Garden with its lush seasonal displays, wander through the Tropical Garden where orchids and palms thrive in the shadows of a cascading waterfall, or retreat to the quiet beauty of the Desert Garden.

Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo exists to help people gain a greater appreciation of wildlife, encourage family fun in a natural setting, and help save the world’s wild animals and wild places.

To ensure knowledgeable and productive citizens, the Indiana Department of Education provides leadership and support for the PK–12 education system through coordinated and relevant:

  • Policies, programs, and services
  • Standards 
  • Resources 
  • Evaluation and analyses

Whether you are a prospective student who is looking for an excellent education that fits your lifestyle and budget, a continuing student looking for specific web-based resources to enhance your experience, or a community member or friend of the college who wants to know what's new at Ivy Tech or how you can get involved, our regional website offers a wealth of interactive resources that provide the crucial links to information that our stakeholders need, and showcase the many ways in which Ivy Tech Community College Northeast is changing lives.

The McMillen Center for Health Education provides vital, effective, preventive health education that promotes physical, emotional, and social well-being.

The mission of Fort Wayne Public Television WFWA PBS39 is to provide high-quality telecommunications services that enhance the quality of life in the communities we serve through educational, informational, cultural, and entertaining programs and services.

The Region 8 Education Service Center offers educational services that can be provided more effectively and efficiently through cooperation than individually. We supplement educational services available in the local school districts, support activities within those districts, better equalize educational opportunities and costs for all students, and provide a single voice on certain issues for all schools in northeast Indiana.

Science Central is Indiana's center for Science, Mathematics, and Technology. Science Central creates an entertaining, informative, interactive, and family-oriented environment for children and adults where the inspiration to learn how to do science, math, and technology emergesemerges from "hands-on" participation.

Science Education Foundation of Indiana, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to encourage and assist young people to become scientists and engineers and to practice their professions in Indiana. The Board of Directors membership comprises volunteers from industry, the not-for-profit sector, and academia who are committed to enhancing science education in Indiana.

Trine University is a private, non-denominational institution that grants associate, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees in more than 30 programs.

Indiana Tech is a private, career-oriented university with a main campus in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and satellite campuses statewide. View our degrees, learn more about the university, or get in touch with us if Indiana Tech sounds right for you! Graduating high school? Looking for a college that’s right for you? Our traditional university has everything you need.

East Allen County Schools are indeed distinguished by achievement, knowledge, skills, and character.

Welcome to Indiana’s second-largest public school district, proudly boasting 53 schools, a regional vocational center, a cutting-edge early childhood center, and an award-winning core curriculum. Our nearly 32,000 students excel at academics, the fine arts, and more.

Metropolitan School District of Wabash County, a partnership of students, educators, parents, and the community, is committed to providing a positive educational environment characterized by high expectations for success. Students will be taught to be active, life-long learners, functioning cooperatively and independently in a changing world.

Northwest Allen County Schools: Discover Excellence in Education.

Southwest Allen County Schools believes that learning is achieved only through the joint efforts of our stakeholders—students, parents, faculty and staff, and patrons.

Wabash City Schools is dedicated to collaborating with the community to create a caring environment that will foster lifelong learning and success in a changing world.

The Science of Surprise

Discrepant Events

A discrepant event is an unexpected result in an experiment that contradicts established scientific theories or predictions. These puzzling outcomes are crucial for scientific progress, as they prompt researchers to reevaluate current knowledge and experimental procedures. Ultimately, these events act as catalysts for discovery, driving new insights and a deeper understanding of the natural world. Watch our students perform their own discrepant event activities.

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Strength In Partnership

Sponsors and Supporters

We want to give special recognition to our most recent corporate sponsors listed below. If you are interested in becoming a corporate sponsor, please contact us.

Fort Wayne Community Schools

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Lockrey Manufacturing

SME Education Foundation

Indiana Michigan Power

BAE Systems

Indiana Manufacturing Competitiveness Center (IN-MaC)

NISTEM Director

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Jeffrey Nowak

Professor of Education

260-481-6960
[email protected]