2015 SARSEF Cox Future Innovators Night

Crowd after Mayor Jonathan Rothschild spoke; notice Star Wars characters liberally sprinkled about.

I had the pleasure of attending SARSEF‘s 2015 Cox Future Innovators Night on March 11 at the Tucson Convention Center. What a blast!

More than 75,000 STEM research projects were entered in Southern Arizona science fairs this school year, and 1,903 of them were selected to compete at SARSEF. The TCC exhibition hall was lined with tables displaying the projects, and students and their families spent the evening viewing projects and exhibits, being congratulated by a mayor, and learning the fine art of working with light sabers.

Tucson mayor Jonathan Rothschild congratulated both the students and their families for making STEM a priority in their lives. He was accompanied by an honor guard of Star Wars characters, including Darth Vader, storm troopers, Annakin Skywalker, Han Solo, Boba Fett, and Jedi knights, and Chewbacca (big thanks to the Dune Sea Garrison for taking part in the event!).

Over 40 organizations brought exhibits and demonstrations that highlighted interesting aspects of STEM.

Below is a gallery of photos I took of Southern Arizona’s future STEM innovators.