UTPA kicking off its annual HESTEC week
EDINBURG — The sixth annual Hispanic Engineering, Science & Technology Week set to start Monday continues to keep its outer space and pop culture roots, but also expands into robotics territory.
The week-long conference at the University of Texas - Pan American this year is based on the theme “Inspiring the Next Generation of Explorers.”
It includes the traditional Congressional Roundtable on Science Literacy and Student Career Expo and ventures out with a robot from Toyota’s North American operations.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is the high-profile speaker, slated to appear Thursday.
And the week is planned to end with Community Day, featuring country crooner and actor Billy Ray Cyrus, the Discovery Channel’s MythBusters and the Guadalajara-based dance and pop act Belanova.
“It really has a variety,” said HESTEC co-director Yvette Padilla. “This year, what we are trying to do is reach out to as many different people as we can.”
The Monday roundtable is slated to be moderated by John Quiñones of ABC Primetime and feature the Rio Grande Valley’s elected officials in the U.S. House — Reps. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Mercedes; Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi and Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, along with representatives from the U.S. Department of Education, NASA and Hewlett Packard Co.
Students can go to special symposiums geared to their needs in science, engineering and education.
Other discussion topics during the week include the development of new science laboratories to meet today’s research needs, wildlife science, aerospace and mathematics instruction.
“We’ve tied a lot of what the presenters are doing directly to the kinds of things teachers are teaching in the classroom,” said Arnoldo Mata, a HESTEC coordinator.
State Farm Insurance and Proctor & Gamble are some of the companies that will have a new presence this year. Padilla said both companies have made UTPA a priority university.
“In recruitment terms, they will recruit on our campus before they go out to the other campuses that are not priority schools,” she said.
On Thursday, Toyota is slated to bring a Toyota Partner Robot from Japan for its first-ever university appearance in the United States. The robot is about 4 feet tall and can play live trumpet music, Padilla said.
Then on Friday, about 90 local and national companies are expected to fill the two physical education buildings for the annual career expo. The showcase began with 17 companies in 2002 and has since grown, said Velinda Reyes, the university’s director of career services and a HESTEC coordinator.
“They (companies) are just always impressed at how our students do out there and are well prepared,” she said.
There will be other things to see and learn at Community Day, too.
The No. 29 Shell NASCAR driven by Kevin Harvick is expected for race fans to see. Padilla said Harvick will not be attending the event, though.
And the MythBusters — Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage — are scheduled to talk to attendees about urban myths and judge a catapult contest involving students from Freddy Gonzalez Elementary School.
Also set to attend are Belita Moreno and UTPA alumnus Valente Rodriguez, both stars of the recently defunct “George Lopez” show. Some of the planned music for the day is from norteño acts Costumbre and Solido.
