SRP hosts "High Tech U" workshops for students
As the solar industry continues to explode across the country, corporations are looking for college graduates to possess the skill and knowledge needed to keep up with the growth of the renewable energy industry. Despite the fact that California has the third-highest demand for solar energy in the world, more of these high-tech jobs are headed to other countries.
To address the need for high-tech graduates, Salt River Project (SRP) partnered with Maricopa Advanced Technology Education Center (MATEC) to introduce students at Tolleson High School to the science and career opportunities of solar, nanotechnology and biofuels industry through a program called SEMI High Tech U. High Tech U is administered by the SEMI Foundation.
The hands-on program, which ran March 17-19, 2008, had a newly-developed renewable energy and solar technology component as a way of introducing students to one of the region's growing technology sectors. It was the first of three High Tech U programs to be sponsored by SRP, and the first High Tech U held in Tolleson. Last year's High Tech U was held in Scottsdale, where students explored biotechnology and future careers in this growing field.
The three-day program included hands-on experiments that introduced renewable resource concepts and explained energy generation, as well as sessions on educational pathways and career planning.
SRP Associate General Manager Mark Bonsall gave out two $1,000 college scholarships for two students that showed promise in the future of Arizona's high-tech workforce.
The SEMI High Tech U is a collaboration that includes SEMI, Salt River Project and MATEC. Industry volunteers serve as instructors, exposing students to the technology used to create chips that power virtually every electronic device made today.
Classes were held at Glendale Community College and were taught by volunteer instructors from MATEC, SRP, ClubGlendale Community College and the Tolleson Unified School District. Students also participated in tours of the Agua Fria Generating Station.
In 2005, a study commissioned by SRP and the Maricopa County Community College District projected double-digit growth in regional high-tech manufacturing jobs over the next few years, but a dwindling pipeline of locally available technical talent. SRP's involvement with High Tech U was an outgrowth of these findings.
High Tech U was created by San Jose, Calif.-based SEMI as a way of getting more students interested in science and math and high-tech careers. Since High Tech U began in 2001, 54 programs have been delivered to more than 1,474 students and more than 330 teachers in the U.S., France, Japan and Singapore. Through teacher course curriculum integration, nearly 20,000 students have been reached.
Over the past six years approximately 2,000 students and teachers have attended HTU in France, Japan, Singapore and the U.S.Through our HTU teacher edition, SEMI estimates that over 33,000 students have been positively influenced about careers in technology and the semiconductor industry.
SRP sponsored three Arizona teachers to attend the High Tech U Teacher Edition Conference in Austin, Texas on July 28-30, 2008. Our high school teachers had the unique opportunity to participate in a two and one-half day, hands-on program to learn about and better understand the microelectronics industries, including nanotechnology, biotechnology, and microelectromechanical systems.
Curriculum focused on science, math, and technology, including student hands-on activities. Teachers will toured a world-class, state-of-the-art semiconductor facility.
