Spotlight: Maricopa Science City (video)

The Maricopa Center for Entrepreneurship will host the second annual Maricopa Science City during the Salsa Festival in March.

MCE Director Dan Beach and Innovation Intern David Shaffer stopped by the InMaricopa Studio to discuss the upcoming event and why it is important to the local economy.

“Last year we had about 18 different businesses bring the science of their business and expose it in a hands-on demonstration to the students in town,” Beach said. “For example, the (UltraStar) Multi-tainment Center did an exhibit on the science of popcorn. There’s a lot of physics involved in how popcorn pops, and you don’t think about that.”

MCE is hoping to have 40 to 50 businesses participate in this year’s “Science at Work” portion of the Science City.

MCE is also expecting nearly 200 students to participate in the science fair portion of Science City.

“To me, as a student, I feel that getting involved with science at the high school level or the elementary level or the middle school level is a great exposure to careers that are totally possible,” Shaffer said. “Without Science City and projects like this, students would never understand that there are careers out there that don’t even exist yet.”

Maricopa Science City will take place during the 12th annual Maricopa Salsa Festival on March 19.