Date: June 2023
Amount: $19,033

The Schenectady Museum Amateur Radio Association (SMARA), established in 1971, works with the Schenectady Museum of Science and Innovation (MiSci) to display, teach, and demonstrate the science and art of radio communication to the public. Currently, SMARA has 54 full-time members involved in many radio-related activities, including both Field Day and their club licensing program. SMARA and MiSci promote STEM education through museum programming, such as sessions focused on the technology used in space exploration (e.g. communicating with the US ISS). As SMARA is housed in a museum, it provides opportunities for visitors to have hands-on access to their station via exhibits and special programs. SMARA wants to utilize this opportunity to advance STEM education in their community. An impediment to their goals is that their stations hardware is considerably dated.

This grant will provide funding for SMARA to acquire state of the art radio equipment that can be used for demonstrations at the museum, schools, or other offsite locations. SMARA and MiSci will be able to not only serve the diverse student population in their community, but also grow the number of amateur radio operators in the region.