Super Bowl 50 Host City Fosters Silicon Valley Relationships
Levi's Stadium, where Super Bowl 50 will be played, in Santa Clara, California. Mike Brake / Shutterstock.com
Santa Clara, California, hopes partnerships with STEM innovators will benefit public education.
The city of Santa Clara, California, about 55 miles south of San Francisco, hosts Super Bowl 50 at Levi's Stadium this weekend, but last Saturday held a different kind of bowl for science, technology, engineering and mathematics innovation.
The STEM Innovation Bowl at Central Park Library featured six presentations, 11 innovation stations and eight interactive exhibits, including a demonstration of the MapSantaClara interactive map tool.
Showcasing immersive technology from virtual reality to telepresence robots, much of it developed in Silicon Valley, represents the city’s effort to engage its residents while forging partnerships with local startups.
“The city set up relationships with the participating organizations, and one of the hopes is they can incorporate their products into some of the ongoing educational activities going on in middle and high school,” said Juan Montermoso, marketing professor at Santa Clara University . “The city also starting looking at having this as a periodic event, where new innovations can be showcased.”
Montermoso was part of brainstorming that began a year ago of activities Santa Clara could sponsor capitalizing on the coming Super Bowl. Along with groups like the Silicon Valley Talent Partnership and Harvard Business School Community Partners , alumni offering pro bono consulting, it was decided a STEM event would sustain itself beyond the football game.
In May, an Ideation Lab comprised of 35 MBA students generated an initial plan for a Super Bowl tie-in event, audience, exhibits, location and business participants.
The goal was to involve big, local companies, who could also partner on community science fairs and scholarships in the future, as well as small companies seeking exposure and a chance to crowdsource funding.
The city of Santa Clara estimates more than 10,000 people attended the free Innovation Bowl.
"The businesses in Santa Clara will benefit by having access to better and more skilled employees," city spokesperson Jennifer Yamaguma said in an email. "A robust STEM education results in more entrepreneurs, small businesses, and start-ups. This serves as a driver for economic growth in Santa Clara."
Dave Nyczepir is a News Editor at Government Executive’s Route Fifty. (Photo by Mike Brake / Shutterstock.com)
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