The second annual ASCENT Technology Expo, sponsored by Florida Power and Light (FPL), will take place March 2 at Florida State University Panama City. 

The all-ages event will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Holley Academic Center, 4750 Collegiate Drive, Panama City. Visitors can check out Minecraft scavenger hunts; rocket builds; an E-sports competition; technology and engineering demonstrations; performances by the FSU Electric Chamber Orchestra (ECHO); a presentation on creativity and ChatGPT; and much more, including food trucks on site.

“We had more than 400 participants last year, and we anticipate 700 this year,” said Suzanne Remedies, Ph.D., ASCENT program manager. “It’s an all-day, family event. We want to show that there’s literally something for everyone in the field. It’s so vast, and it touches almost everybody.”

ASCENT (Advancing Science and Career Education in New Technologies) is a 6-year, $23 million project partially funded by Triumph Gulf Coast Inc., designed to contribute to the development of a strong, regional workforce in cybersecurity and new technologies. The Triumph grant pledges $11.5 million in matching funds to money raised by or donated to ASCENT.

FPL recently donated $50,000 to ASCENT programs, which will result in a total of $100,000 when matching funds are secured.
“The FPL grant is tremendously beneficial to us,” Remedies said. “FPL partnering with us expands the exposure and opportunities to these students, and it allows us to expand our outreach.” 

Key goals of ASCENT include increasing the interest and pipeline of students in engineering, computer science, information technology and cybersecurity fields through various K-12 initiatives; expanding FSU PC program offerings to include an undergraduate degree in Information Technology; and delivering non-credit customized training and testing to meet regional needs of community partners. 

For more information about ASCENT, visit pc.fsu.edu/ascent. For more on the expo, visit teched.fsu.edu.