TechForce Foundation has partnered with the Arizona Science Center to dream up the CREATE U: TechForce Foundation Transportation Challenge. The world of automotive transportation tech isn’t just junkyards, gears, and grease anymore. The industry is made up of a multitude of shiny, new parts that are constantly in motion. There’s never a dull moment, and this pilot program aims to prove just that.
The CREATE U: TechForce Foundation Transportation Challenge will bring together the resources, experiences, and missions from TechForce and the Arizona Science Center to provide young people with all the necessary tools to apply STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) skills to real-life scenarios related to the exciting and innovative world of transportation tech. This isn’t just tinkering around in an old garage, this is high-tech, cutting edge innovation.
The Arizona Science Center’s CREATE space combines art, innovation, community, and productivity into one spot where people of all ages can come together to create using cutting edge tools and technology (see what the CREATE space looks like by viewing this video). The CREATE space has been used for numerous CREATE Challenges designed to make learning a hands-on, fun experience, but TechForce and the Arizona Science Center are teaming up to construct a whole new kind of challenge.
This challenge seeks to ignite the passion for transportation tech in individuals who are hands-on, tactile learners and problem solvers with an interest in the industry. Projects will be tailored toward individuals who are mechanically minded, always tinkering with things or tearing things apart and putting them back together, and who may not enjoy traditional schooling or simply can’t sit still in class. If that sounds like you, you are exactly the candidate this challenge was made for.
“We are so excited to help get young people involved with the world of transportation tech in a very hands-on way, because these are individuals who learn by doing,” explains Jennifer Maher, CEO of TechForce Foundation. What makes the transportation industry the perfect fit for tactile-learners is its dynamic, active environment. TechForce and the Arizona Science Center want to open these students’ eyes to an exciting future and connect them with the careers they might not even know are perfect for them.
The Transportation Challenge program is currently under development by a national committee of automotive curriculum designers sponsored by ATMC (Automotive Training Managers Council). Two of these 12-week programs are slated to run over the 2017-18 school year. The first will take place this fall (September-December) and the second in the spring (January-April). Twenty 7th to 9th grade students from either Estrella Middle School or Trevor Browne High School will be selected to participate in each cycle. Teachers, counselors, parents, and students themselves are encouraged to nominate individuals they feel would both enjoy and thrive in a program such as the CREATE U: TechForce Foundation Transportation Challenge.
Applications for the fall cycle will be accepted through August 15th.
