Leaders at the Dallas Innovation Center of IBM, one of IT-oLogy’s founding partners, invited IT-oLogy Dallas to showcase the latest technology during Engineering Week at two world-class science museums in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Celebrated around the world each February, Engineering Week provides an opportunity for the public to understand first-hand the significant contributions engineers make to the advancement of our world.
IBM has been a sponsor of Engineering Week in the DFW area for twenty-five years along with other major corporations like Lockheed Martin, Exxon Mobile, and Texas Instruments. Public, private, and home school groups participate in the hands-on activities in local museums where cutting-edge technology is on display with the goal to inspire more young people to consider careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
IT-oLogy Dallas recently showcased 3D Printing and Robotics at our local Cyber Saturday event, which caught the attention of one parent who is a Distinguished Engineer and Master Inventor at IBM, Romelia Flores. With a career at IBM spanning three decades and includes more than two dozen patents, Mrs. Flores saw the excitement among students around the 3D printers during the IT-oLogy workshop and wanted to impact many more students during Engineering Week, when some 10,000 students pass through each of the two major science museums in DFW: The Perot Museum of Nature and Science and the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History
With kind assistance from local IBM staffers, IT-oLogy Dallas presented a display of four 3D printers for five days at the IBM station in each museum, speaking to students, teachers, and parents about the marvel of 3D printing in education, research, and manufacturing. The excitement was non-stop and dozens of teachers signed-up to have IT-oLogy Dallas schedule speaking events at local schools.
The contribution that IBM makes on local education is a model for other technology companies who see the long-term vision to impact generations to come to meet the technology needs of the future, advancing the IT talent pipeline with young people who will become the leaders of these major enterprises that will change our world.