Teens explore bio-technology, packaging and optics

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A. Sue Weisler

Jason Shanely, RIT student-entrepreneur and owner of SkinsHQ, who began his business while he was in high school, opens the Workforce Innovations Conference on April 10.

Some of the students will “gown up” for the engineering clean room to learn more about how silicon wafers and integrated circuits are developed. Others will learn about trends in hospitality and tourism, pollution prevention and biomedical sciences. All will be part of the 2014 Workforce Innovations Conference that takes place at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, April 10, at Rochester Institute of Technology.

More than 100 sophomore and junior high school students from the area will participate in the annual event as a way to explore possible careers through hands-on activities led by faculty and staff at RIT. Workshops take place in campus labs and classrooms, covering topics in biomedical science, biotechnology, computing security, environmental sustainability, optics and imaging, information technology, pollution prevention and sustainability, hospitality and tourism, microelectronics and nanotechnology.

A full schedule of workshops and locations is available.

Participants will also have a chance to meet Jason Shanely, RIT student-entrepreneur and owner of SkinsHQ, who began his business while he was in high school. The fourth-year business management student built his business around unique “skins,” or covers, for lockers, smartphones, laptop computers and tablets. He won RIT’s 2013 E. Philip Saunders Young Entrepreneurs Academy Regional “Bright Ideas” Competition. His presentation takes place at 8:45 a.m. in RIT’s B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences auditorium.

The annual conference is sponsored by Monroe BOCES No. 1 and its School to Career program. For more information about the event, contact Jeff Dillon, College and Career Ready Coordinator, at 585-383-2257 or jeff_dillon@boces.monroe.edu.

At a previous Workforce Innovations Conference, Daniel Barley, left, a junior from Rush-Henrietta Senior High School, and his work-partner, Alan Palermo, a junior from Irondequoit High School, prepared granola bars as part of a hands-on workshop about careers in hospitality. Students will explore a variety of career options at the annual event sponsored by Monroe County BOCES No. 1. Michelle Cometa