Science is not dry and theoretical. Its power is all around us – improving health care, advancing clean energy, and transforming the way people live, work and communicate around the globe.

In partnership with our customers, 3M uses science every day to improve lives and solve problems, whether it is our filtration technology that enables you to breathe cleaner air and drink cleaner water; our nonwoven technology that keeps your car quieter and jacket warmer; or our film technology that makes homes, offices and smartphones more efficient. Those are just three of our 46 technology platforms, and supporting each one is our people – including our 8,500 scientists, who are among the best and brightest in the world.

The combination of those two things – cutting-edge technologies in the hands of very smart people – is core to our company’s strength. It is also key to solving our world’s toughest problems, whether they be air pollution, food safety or clean water. And success will require a broad commitment – beyond a single company or government – to advancing both technology and talent.

To meet the challenges of today and tomorrow, our society must always be expanding the frontiers of scientific progress.

This means the private and public sector must continue to invest in research and development, which bolsters the foundation for scientific breakthroughs. In uncertain economic times, it is understandable for businesses and governments to spend cautiously. Yet, we should look beyond the short-term pressures of a budget cycle or quarterly report, and maintain investments critical to long-term growth and prosperity. That is why at 3M we continue to invest close to 6 percent of our sales into R&D – which last year equaled $1.8 billion.

At the same time, it’s equally important to constantly refresh – and strengthen – the world’s pipeline of scientists and engineers, which means constantly strengthening STEM education. Everyone has a role to play, including the private sector, which must invest in its future workforce.

At 3M, we take this responsibility seriously and have for decades. For more than 40 years, our company has partnered with schools to strengthen their STEM curricula. We invite science and technology teachers into our laboratories for hands-on experience. 3M Visiting Wizards also perform experiments at schools to open young minds to the wonders of science.

We are especially committed to encouraging underrepresented communities to achieve an education rich in STEM, because diversity leads to new ideas, different perspectives and, ultimately, better results.

Today, for example, women make up less than 30 percent of scientists globally, even though women represent half the world’s population. Also, consider the fact that if people of color were fully represented in the engineering workforce, we would have 460,000 more engineers in the United States alone helping solve challenges in infrastructure, communication, energy and more. Imagine all that brainpower that’s not being used.

To that end, our STEP (Science Training Encouragement Program) initiative is tailored to high school students of diverse backgrounds. Through mentoring by our scientists and summer employment in our laboratories, these students gain invaluable job skills and insights into science careers.

We are proud that many go on to pursue advanced training in science-related fields; some eventually come back to work with us at 3M, and even end up volunteering as mentors in the same STEP program that helped them.

On a national scale, 3M works with Discovery Education to host the Young Scientist Challenge, an annual competition that matches students with 3M mentors as they bring their best ideas to life. Last year’s winner, 15-year-old Hannah Herbst, developed a method for delivering low-cost, reliable energy to places that need it most. The previous year’s winner invented a unique way to convert carbon dioxide into electricity, after being inspired by the 1.5 billion people globally who have zero electricity.

The year before that, America’s Top Young Scientist – the title bestowed upon the winner – created a lightweight, reusable sandbag after seeing his hometown devastated by a hurricane. These students see a solution in every problem, and we need to inspire more young people to think like that.   

While the Young Scientist Challenge is U.S.-based, our reach spans the globe.

In 2014, we launched an annual 3M Global Volunteer Day to better mobilize our tens of thousands of global volunteers, and 15 international locations participated. By 2015, participation soared to nearly 90 locations.

As part of last year’s event, 3Mers in Taiwan hosted a science camp for more than 5,000 young people. In Brazil, we helped students develop science projects and assisted with teacher training. And in West Europe, our volunteers visited schools to kick off a science challenge that encourages young people to develop a passion for STEM. Overall, 16,000 3Mers volunteered more than 60,000 hours to schools and youth organizations.

Of course, STEM education is about much more than what happens inside the classroom. An education rich in STEM – one that lays the foundation early and builds upon it through the later years – is about preparing students to succeed in the fast-moving world they will find outside the classroom.

In today’s economy, more high-quality, well-paying jobs require STEM skills. Walk through one of our manufacturing plants, for example, and you will see cutting-edge technologies like 3D printers, robotics and laser cutters. These are highly complex machines that require highly skilled people to operate and analyze them.

Ultimately, strengthening STEM education is a critical opportunity: to both equip young people with the necessary skills to build a successful career, and to advance scientific discoveries that will make the world safer, healthier and more prosperous. At 3M, we will continue to do our part to make this opportunity a reality.