RIVERSIDE, Calif., October 26, 2015 - Bourns, Inc., a leading manufacturer and supplier of electronic components, today announced the success of the 16th Annual Science & Technology Education Partnership (STEP) Conference. This was STEP's largest conference in its history with more than 5,000 area students and their teachers from Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in attendance at the Bourns Technology Center on October 6-7, 2015. One of the significant additions to the agenda this year was a Google and Riverside Unified School District-sponsored session with 40 Chromebook computers demonstrating Google's "CS First" program, which teaches 4th through 8th grade students how to write computer code. Also new this year were "STEP Talks," a series of 20-minute presentations made by local education and business leaders on a variety of interesting topics from "Drones and Cyber Security," to "Thriving in College with a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Major."
In addition, the information-packed conference included 40 interactive exhibits to pique the interest of students, teachers and parents in a variety of STEM areas. At the adjacent UC Riverside College of Engineering Center for Environmental Research and Technology facility, laboratory tours were conducted for 350 high school students allowing them to experience the center's atmospheric chamber. Students could see the advancements used to improve air quality, solar panels and electric vehicle battery arrays as well as lab capabilities that enabled wood pulp to be converted to ethanol for fuel.
"At Bourns, part of our corporate culture is to do all we can to mentor students who want to advance in science, technology, engineering and math," said Gordon Bourns, CEO at Bourns, Inc. "It is very rewarding to be part of a positive program that inspires children to pursue education and careers in STEM fields, making for a much brighter future for our community."
The STEP Conference was founded in 2000 by Congressman Ken Calvert and his staff who urged area leaders to form the STEP Program as a 501(c)(3) non-profit for the purpose of encouraging students into STEM fields. The STEP Program involves many STEP Conference volunteers, including the Board of Directors, Planning Committee and the much-appreciated STEP Conference sponsors that ensure the conference can be provided free of charge to so many Inland Southern California students. More STEP Conference information is available at MyScienceEducation.com.