The Scientech Club held its annual festive dinner Saturday, October 14, 2023 at the Woodland Country Club in Carmel, Indiana. After an hour of socializing with a cash bar, dinner, with choice of fillet or chicken, was served to over 100 attendees. Tables were decorated with faux roses and diamonds.
Club President Rick Whitener opened the evening program by introducing Jeff Rasley, President of the Scientech Foundation. Jeff gave a brief description of the Foundation’s 17 grants for STEM education programs in Indiana and 9 “most improved student” scholarships at Indiana colleges. To humanize what the Foundation supports, Jeff read an excerpt from the report of one grantee, the Marian University Summer Engineering Camp for high school students. It described the sophisticated level of engineering projects the campers worked on and how it prepared them to study engineering at the college level.
The main event was a program about diamonds by Club members Hank Wolfla and Dr. Glen Bingle. They gave a power point presentation about how diamonds are formed, cut, marketed and sold, and the histories of the most expensive and rare diamonds. Dr. Bingle concluded the program with an admonition to members that, “You can’t take diamonds or your wealth with you, so you ought to give some of it away to charitable organizations benefiting the next generation, like the Scientech Foundation.”
Grantee: Jordan YMCA
Amount of the Grant: $10,000
How The Grant Was Used: During the 2022-2023 Preschool year, the Jordan YMCA provided 67 students (41 half-day and 26 full-day) the skills to prepare for kindergarten; 31% of those children received financial assistance to attend. Over $25,000 was awarded in preschool financial assistance.
The Jordan Y utilizes the rigorously researched Creative Curriculum, which balances teacher planned and child-initiated learning for ages 2-5 years. Research has shown that children reap long-term educational and social benefits from quality preschool. While the comprehensive curriculum focuses on many important areas of education such as literacy, social studies, and the arts, it has an equal focus on STEM learning and activities.
The Mini-Medical School project, a recipient of the Scientech Foundation grant, was designed originally to enable Indianapolis Public Schools high school students to spend a day at the IU School of Medicine, learning what it would be like to pursue a career in medicine, nursing, or emergency medical technology. It was so successful that a second day was soon added for students from rural school districts around the state, which face significant shortages of health professionals. The program has received such positive feedback that it will be staged three times a year in the near future instead of two. Funding from Scientech plays a large role in keeping this great program going. All labor by faculty and health professions students is voluntary, and we use the money strictly to feed the students breakfast and lunch and provide them with medical instruments such as disposable stethoscopes, reflex hammers, and t-shirts that bear the Scientech logo.
Scientech Foundation member Dr. Teresa Trierweiler is the sponsor of this project. The Indiana University Medical School liaison person is our Scientech member Dr. Richard Gunderman.
Earlham College offered two, 6-day consecutive sessions called the Earlham Summer STEM Camp. The camps were pre-college, residential experiences for Indiana residents who are rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
The Scientech Foundation’s $10,000 grant funding awarded scholarship dollars to twenty-two students, nearly half of all the STEM campers, who otherwise might not have been able to attend the camp. Also, this group consisted of a diverse group of students.
Earlham Summer STEM coursework included:
There were specific learning objectives for each course. Post-course assessments showed that 95% of all the participants who completed the week demonstrated advancement of their knowledge about their curricular focus (100% of students receiving Scientech Foundation scholarship monies advanced and passed their coursework).
When asked about their favorite experience at the STEM camp, students said:
“The class was my favorite experience. I enjoyed learning more about the chemistry of water, and doing labs was so fun.”
"I really enjoyed the coursework and it fit well with how I learn things, as well as the professor and my classmates being open to communicate and interact, and classmates being open to support and talk to each other in the class setting."
Source: Jill Nelson, Associate Director of Summer Programs, Earlham College.
Our board member, Jeff Rasley, had the amazing opportunity to join a podcast recently. During the conversation, we touched upon various topics, including the purpose and mission of The Scientech Foundation. Additionally, we highlight the remarkable humanitarian efforts of VP Benny Ko, who actively volunteers to support Ukraine refugees. His compassionate approach to medicine serves as an inspiring example for us all.
On Thursday, August 10th, 2023, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb joined Marian University leaders, esteemed community and business figures, students, faculty, and distinguished guests in celebrating the ribbon cutting and grand opening of the brand-new E. S. Witchger School of Engineering Center. Represented by board members Joe Abella, Benny Ko, Jeff Rasley, and Rick Whitener, the Scientech Foundation of Indiana graciously awarded grants to Marian University in support of the Summer Engineering Camp for Indiana's young minds.
For more information about the event and Marian University’s new E. S. Witchger School of Engineering Center. Click Here
With Scientech's investment, Girls Inc.'s Eureka! Program was able to secure funding to support a 2nd cohort of girls in the summer of 2020. Thank you for helping us support girls in STEM!
In 2022 and 2023 the Scientech Foundation generously awarded grants to the VEX Robotic Team 1024. The Team members are girls and boys from Lawrence Township schools. They elect to develop computer, math, and engineering skills during after-school sessions under the guidance of Tom Wilson and Andy Ratermann. The Scientech grants allowed the Team to purchase equipment to construct and control the robots. The students competed successfully in local contests in which other teams from other townships and neighboring counties took part. The pictures below show how some of this investment was used.
© 2026 Copyright Scientech Foundation of Indiana Inc. All Rights Reserved