Local technology-sector employers want to show high school students how cool a job in science can be.
In a new relationship among Pima Community College, the University of Arizona, JobPath and local businesses, 40 students have the opportunity to take free classes during summer vacation. They'll learn about optics, electric cars and solar energy.
Businesses such as Global Solar Energy, Texas Instruments, Analog Devices, Honeywell, Veeco Metrology and Zygo want students to test-drive career options in these fields and, it is hoped, get excited about careers as technicians or engineers.
"High school students don't realize if you get a degree in optics and pursue it as a career, you grow up to play with lasers," said Melanie Nelson, a recruiter for JobPath, a non-profit agency that helps low-wage earners move into better careers.
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During the seven-week program, which starts on May 27, students will earn six college credits and visit local high-tech workplaces.
The tuition and books are paid for by a National Science Foundation alternative-energy grant shared by several colleges; JobPath pays for gasoline cards, and students who pass the classes will earn a stipend.
"They'll be walking away with $500 for doing their homework," Nelson said.
The grant also pays for lab equipment for work on fuel-cell and photovoltaics projects, so the classes will be very hands-on, said Lazaro Hong, technology department chairman at Pima Community College.
In many colleges, enrollment in technology courses has dropped, Hong said. That, plus the baby boomers' move toward retirement, could create a shortage of technicians if colleges don't step up recruiting in scientific fields, Hong said.
"The business partners that come through my advisory committee are worried that in the future, they're not going to have the work force" they want, he said.
Starting pay for technician jobs is $35,000 to $45,000 a year, he said.
The UA's College of Optical Sciences also is helping to fund the summer-term program.
Students will tour the Center on Materials and Devices for Information Technology Research, which is a photonics research center, and learn about the college-admissions process. The optics college hopes some of the students will want to become engineers and research scientists, said Kimberly Sierra-Cajas, science and technology center coordinator.
to enroll
Technology Summer Institute
Who can apply: High school students who have passed algebra and are interested in technology careers.
When: May 27 through July 11.
Cost: Free. A $500 stipend is awarded for a passing grade.
For more information: JobPath.net or 324-0402.
Application deadline: Next Tuesday.