The U.S. Navy and UC Santa Barbara have formally agreed to collaborate on an innovative program that will expose veterans and underrepresented community college students to civilian science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers in the Navy.

In a signing ceremony Tuesday at Naval Base Ventura County, Capt. Jay Mitchell, commanding officer of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command and Expeditionary Warfare Center, and Michael Witherell, vice chancellor of research at UCSB, hailed the program as a novel approach to educating the Navy STEM workers of the future.

Known as PIPELINES, for Problem-based Initiatives for Powerful Engagement and Learning In Naval Engineering and Science, the program pairs 10 community college students with five UCSB undergraduates for a paid, eight-week immersion into a civilian STEM environment at the base.

The first PIPELINES program will run June 20 to Aug. 12, 2016. Community college recruitment is under way.

More information on the program is available at http://www.news.ucsb.edu/2015/015891/all-hands-deck.