About our LOGO

Dr. Bill McCarthy proposed that RASEM² adopt the accretion disk as our logo in honor of Stephen Hawking, the English theoretical physicist with a disability who developed the mathematical proof for black holes. Black holes represent a revolutionary idea in physics, just as RASEM² is a revolutionary project in the area of SEM education for students with disabilities.

Presently, students with disabilities are critically underrepresented in SEM careers, even though they have natural problem-solving skills characteristic of successful SEM professionals. RASEM² is committed to reversing this trend by providing the essential resources needed to help students with disabilities achieve their dreams of becoming SEM professionals.

The accretion disk also typifies change. For example, when an object enters the massive gravitational field of a black hole, it changes; just so, when students steel themselves for action with RASEM² resources, their aims switch from those of bystanders, to those of active, resident/ citizens of the SEM community.

In this novel setting, the RASEM² acronym- Regional Alliance of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics-is transformed into the RASEM² anagram- MASER -Meaningful Application of Student Energy and Resources.