Area Teens Participate in Career-Focused Technology and Science Workshops

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Ken Huth

High school students will be able to learn more about the fields of science, technology and service leadership during the annual Workforce Innovations Conference. Last year, they met with RIT faculty members such as Michael Jackson, a professor of microelectronic engineering, and toured the laboratories in the Kate Gleason College of Engineering. He showed the students the intricacies of silicon wafers and shared how the technology is being used in familiar devices such as computers, mobile telephones and other electronic devices.

Nanotechnology, optics and alternative energy are three of the predominant growth industries in New York state. These fields, as well as biotechnology and the hospitality industries, are just a few of the career areas students can learn about at the 2011 Youth Workforce Innovations Conference on April 14 at Rochester Institute of Technology.

More than 100 students are expected to attend the event and participate in hands-on workshops led by RIT professors. The conference targets sophomores and juniors from area high schools.

Opening the conference is Virginia Clark, vice president of community affairs for Constellation Brands. Her keynote address begins at 8:45 a.m. in the Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences auditorium.

“This is the fifth year of the conference, and every year it evolves,” says Jeff Dillon, coordinator of the Monroe County School Business Partnership, a service of Monroe #1 BOCES. “We’re constantly improving it and creating ways to get the students engaged in the workshops and excited about these growing workforce fields.”

The Monroe County School Business Partnership serves 10 area school districts through Monroe #1 BOCES. For more information about the organization or the conference, contact Jeff Dillon at 585-383-2257 or jeff_dillon@boces.monroe.edu.

WHAT: 2011 Youth Workforce Innovations Conference

WHEN: 8:45 a.m.–noon April 7

WHERE: Keynote address: 8:45 a.m. in the Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences auditorium

Note: Student participants will be participating in workshops in different campus buildings after the keynote address. A list of locations and directions is available upon request.