Research intern Derek Mendes is a sophomore at Brockton High School, an honors student, and an avid problem solver. He has been recommended by his teacher to become a student tutor. Derek, who likes playing video games and basketball, plans on majoring in engineering in college so he can become a civil engineer and have his own engineering company.
For RRTN, Derek is responsible for researching artifacts on blacks in architecture, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (ASTEM.) He created the first and only electronic store on blacks in ASTEM. He is also using his research to create a digital visual library on blacks in those fields. He is then creating and using an album of stamps of blacks in ASTEM. Derek has used his research to create a profile on Robert R. Taylor and is creating a reference of RRTN’s research. Derek is fluent in both English and Portuguese.