DENVER – Families, students, educators, local industry leaders and robotics competitors descended on Denver’s East High School Saturday at the third annual Energy Day Festival, hosted by Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) and the Consumer Energy Education Foundation (CEEF).
The free family event, which drew a crowd of thousands, centered on educating attendees about the importance of developing skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM.) This year’s festival also recognized this year’s first sanctioned Kendrick Castillo Memorial Tournament held by FIRST Robotics. The festival and tournament brought in teams from over 24 schools from across the state, Utah and Wyoming.
This year also featured over 43 organizations showcasing exhibits and games that showed attendees about the various careers and opportunities across the energy industry. The festival showcased traditional and renewable energy sources, research and academic organizations as well as building trades and construction that are an integral part of providing energy and education to families and businesses across Colorado.
Sponsors gave over $6,000 in awards and scholarships to students who participated in academic competitions throughout the last school year.
With over 45 interactive exhibits from a wide range of energy organizations – ranging from education and research to renewables and utilities, as well as oil and gas – that came out to showcase various types of energy production, technology, and efficiencies used across the energy industry.
Following the day’s festivities, CEA Chief Operating Officer, and local Colorado resident, Andrew Browning said:
“We were proud to host another successful Energy Day with FIRST Robotics here in Denver. It is so inspiring to see how smart and driven these students are. These are the youth that will lead us into the next generation of energy jobs, and it’s fantastic to see how excited they get about finding new ways to do things. They’re truly going to change the paradigm of energy.
Browning also added: “It’s great to see all of the various organizations that came down to be a part of this day, and the employees that are dedicated to showing students what types of paths they can take in STEM to find careers that have the potential to change the way we look at energy in the future.
“As we grow and evolve as a nation, it is more important than ever that these organizations come together to show students, their parents and our community how technology and innovation are changing the face of energy.”
Some of this year’s sponsors dedicated to STEM education and energy included, Occidental Petroleum, PDC Energy, Vestas Nacelles America, Noble Energy, Caterpillar, Xcel Energy, STEM Boy Scouts, SM Energy, St. Vrain Valley/Crestone Peak and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.