florida.HIGH.TECH florida.HIGH.TECH 2016 | Page 10

Corridor briefs Long Range Planning They say “he who wins at workforce development wins at economic development,” and it appears that The Corridor may have an ace up its sleeve with the latest element of its 20-year-old techPATH initiative, which began 20 years ago with techCAMP, a program to bring classroom teachers into high tech environments in industry to learn new ways to teach their stu- Central Florida-based modeling and simulation irm whose entire team of scientists dents about the importance of studying science, demonstrated unique training tools developed for teams of military medics. technology, engineering and math (STEM). “The idea is to create awareness with students and teachers of what it’s like to Now, stemCONNECT takes advantage of work in a high tech company,” said Randy Berridge, president of the Florida High Internet technology to bring experts to their Tech Corridor Council. “For those experiences we try, in a meaningful fashion, to classrooms for live, two-way sessions that convey why STEM curriculum is so important.” let students have that same opportunity. Entire classrooms have “visited” such unique The Corridor partners with the Central Florida STEM Alliance to promote the environments as Florida Hospital’s Celebration- programs to schools throughout the 10-county Central Florida School Boards based Nicholson Center for Robotic Surgery, Alliance and The Corridor’s STEM Team of Dr. Jeff Bindell and Vicki Morelli where thousands of surgeons from around the connects industry volunteers with schools throughout the entire 23-county world train, and inside the labs of Simetri, a Corridor region. WHAT A STORY. THE SUCCESS OF THE FLORIDA HIGH TECH CORRIDOR COUNCIL IS QUITE A STORY. From the International Space Station, the region’s glow is a clear statement with a bright future powered by three great universities dedicated to … attracting, retaining and growing high tech industry and the workforce to support it. We’ve been proud to have the opportunity tell this story for the last two decades. As story tellers, THAT’S THE KIND OF STORY YOU LOVE TO TELL. www.TheStrategicFirm.com 8 florida.HIGH.TECH 2016