TUCSON, Ariz. — Companies across the country have been a facing declining number of scientists and engineers for years. Raytheon Missile Systems has been trying to help reverse that trend by getting young students interested in science, technology, engineering and math. This year’s 14th annual MathMovesU Day event may have a few more teens thinking about a career in the STEM fields.
“I think this event has changed my perspective on it,” said 8th Grader Elina Rodriguez.
200 middle school students were busy working on snap circuits in a ballroom at the University of Arizona.
“It is already pretty interesting,” said 8th Grader Emilio Espriu. “I liked the video, and I’m really enjoying this.”
Systems Engineer Katie Fore says it's all about the hands-on experience.
“It's not sitting down and doing arithmetic,” said Fore. “You see the application, and math is just a tool to solve the problem, seeing it in action makes a world of difference.”
Vice President of Advanced Missile Systems Thomas Bussing says he hopes the children leave inspired.
“Science is a fascinating thing,” said Bussing. “It drives everything we do, it is something that is extremely fun to do, it contributes in amazing ways, and our entire society is based off contributions of people that succeed in STEM.”
Some of the students we talked to say they are now considering a career in the stem field.
“It just seems interesting now to see and interact with the circuits and everything because I didn't really know how it worked,” said Rodriguez.
