Founded in 1977, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society's (AISES) goal is to foster educational programs and strategies to increase the number of American Indians and Alaskan Natives students in science, engineering, mathematics, and technology related disciplines by linking these fields with traditional Native values. Through AISES' "Full Circle of Support philosophy", under-represented students are encouraged to contribute to the science and engineering workforce by gaining professional and technical skills learned as participants in sponsored internship programs. NSF and AISES will collaborate by offering challenging assignments to American Indian students to help broaden their exposure to cutting-edge science and engineering research and education in various STEM fields. As a result NSF encourages more students to participate in the science and engineering enterprise, deemed vital to the S&E workforce of the 21st century.
