UA News

The UA Science and Technology Park is hosting the GenNext Career Day, which is meant to inform youth about ways that the math and science skills they are learning now can help them in careers as adults.

Helping children and teenagers make science and math connections to the real world can be a difficult task.

But on Thursday, The University of Arizona Science and Technology Park and its partners will help bridge that gap with the sixth annual GenNext Career Day.

The UA's partners include Citigroup, Darling Environmental & Surveying Inc., Hughes Federal Credit Union, IBM, Raytheon, UA South and Vail High School.

This year's robotic-themed event features special guest Peter Smith, principal investigator for the Phoenix Mars Mission.

The event, also known as "Take Our Kids to Work Day," will be held in Building 9052 of the UA Science and Technology Park, 9000 S. Rita Road. The main show will begin at 9 a.m. and the interactive booths will open at 10 a.m. The event will close at about 11 a.m.

GenNext was created to inform youth about ways that the math and science skills they are already learning in their classrooms can translate into careers. About 500 people ae expected to attend.

The day's events will begin with a presentation from scientists involved with the Phoenix Mars Lander, then a demonstration from the Vail High School Robotic Team.

Other activities include interactive booths hosted by: IBM, Hughes Federal Credit Union, Citigroup, Darling Environmental & Surveying Inc., Raytheon, UA South, Vail High School and Edith House by Rural Metro.

GenNext Career Day is a collaborative effort of some of Tucson's largest employers. By using real life examples, GenNext Career Day illustrates how math and science skills learned in the classroom translate into exciting technology jobs.

The UA Science and Technology Park is home to 40 technology companies and business organizations and more than 7,000 employees.

Park tenants include five Fortune 500 companies – IBM, Raytheon, Canon, Citigroup and General Dynamics – as well as several emerging high tech companies like NP Photonics, Modavox and DILAS Diode Laser and the Arizona Center for Innovation, a technology business incubator.

The park has almost 2 million square feet of developed space located on 1,345 acres of land. It has been recognized as one of the premier university research parks in North America.