We are always in such awe of our employees and their passions, especially when they take the time to inspire the next generation! A huge shout-out to Christopher Markstein, PE for presenting to the 1st and 2nd graders at the Discovery Academy of Science! He did an amazing job bringing visibility to the practice of engineering and highlighting how data centers—and companies like Inductive Automation—present meaningful and rewarding career prospects. It's truly inspiring to see the level of engagement and excitement Christopher fostered while connecting the dots between their favorite video games and the digital and physical infrastructure that makes it all possible. Definitely check out the slides he created for his presentation. Not only are they informative... but they are so fun! 🤩
This week I presented to one of my toughest audiences yet: the 1st and 2nd graders at the Discovery Academy of Science in Clearwater, where both of my kids attend. While it's hard to compete with the police dogs, firemen, and heart surgeons who inarguably do more interesting work than me, I felt it important to bring some visibility to the practice of engineering - especially with DAS being a STEM school - and to highlight not only how data centers are integral to our daily lives but how they can present meaningful and rewarding career prospects for the next generation not only at tech giants like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, and Google but smaller companies like Inductive Automation as well. The level of engagement from these classrooms was awesome and it was so much fun to see them connecting the dots between their favorite video games and apps and the digital and physical infrastructure that enables it. Thanks to the staff at DAS along with Pinellas County Schools, Hillsborough County Public Schools, and Pasco County Schools for putting on the Great American Teach In each year and for giving professionals like me a chance to join their classrooms for a day. Resources provided by 7x24 Exchange International through the #intldatacenterday program where super helpful in quickly pulling this together and the coloring book pages were a big hit! It's great that organizations like Digital Realty, QTS Data Centers, Eaton, Infrastructure Masons and Nomad Futurist are bringing focus to our industry for educators - and a special shout out to our friend locally Carrie Goetz with all she has done to push for education in this space. Hopefully more kids consider a future in engineering as a result of initiatives like these! What new ways have you found to engage students in engineering or technology? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments or connect if you'd like to collaborate on future initiatives! #STEM #DataCenters #Community #GATI