Innovation and STEM Outreach to K-12 Students Headline AT&T's Return as Major Sponsor!

As its new corporate slogan - "Rethink Possible" - suggests, AT&T is known for its long history of continually exploring new ways to reinvent itself through technological innovation, educational outreach and community involvement. The global telecommunications leader is bringing this same spirit to the 2nd USA Science & Engineering Festival in its return as a major Sponsor!

Get ready for a bevy of excitement when AT&T assumes key roles in next year's event, including serving as the official host of the Festival's high-profile Nifty Fifty speaker engagements where four of its leading innovators will wow students with presentations showing how AT&T's advances in science and engineering are ushering in some of the most advanced technology designed to help us communicate faster and more efficiently. AT&T will also have a major presence at the Expo, demonstrating in engaging ways how STEM can be made more interactive and exciting for young learners and "why STEM education and careers are so cool!"

And don't miss other interactions with AT&T professionals that weekend when you'll get the chance to try out some of the latest technology coming out of AT&T labs (including iPhones, iPads and new applications to enhance online security and environmental sustainability), plus the opportunity to view videos of AT&T scientists at work, and to get your cell phones and other hand-held devices recharged for free at AT&T's charging stations that will be located at the Expo.

"Serving again as a Sponsor in the USA Science and Engineering Festival is such an important opportunity for AT&T to connect with people across the country about what we do," says Jennifer Kuhn, executive director of Public Affairs for AT&T.

In addition to AT&T's commitment to technological innovation, she says, "AT&T is devoted, from our CEO on down, to helping inspire and educate the next generation of innovators through various outreach endeavors in STEM that involve engaging our scientists and other professionals in mentoring and volunteering activities at schools, and taking an active role in other areas of the community."

Jennifer adds: "AT&T is especially interested in helping to demystify science for kids by engaging them in hands-on experiences in technology with scientists. This gives students a chance to see and work with these professionals up close in exciting ways, and lets them see that scientists come from all ethnicities, genders and backgrounds. In addition, it lets them see how math and science are used to solve real life problems." These are the types of students that AT&T would like to eventually hire to help create the next new technologies that will change the way we communicate, she says.

As further testament to AT&T's commitment to outreach and community involvement, some of its leading scientists are participating at the forefront of these endeavors. Young students will get the chance to meet four of these innovators - Alicia Abella, Ph.D., Mary Fernandez, Ph.D., Sanjay Macwan, and Valerie Torres, Ph.D. - when they serve as Nifty Fifty speakers in April.

AT&T also spearheads AT&T Aspire, a national $100 million multi-year initiative that is working to help improve high school retention rates and college and career readiness among students, including those in underserved communities. Another example of AT&T's commitment to STEM education is their work with the Obama Administration's new Digital Promise initiative, which aims to transform learning, particularly around technology, in America's classrooms. AT&T Labs Chief Scientist, Dave Belanger, will be joining other leading thinkers to form a commission to make recommendations for the initial research agenda for the Digital Promise initiative and help chart the course to transform how we use mobile technology to advance STEM teaching.

We thank AT&T and our other valued Sponsors as they join us in our goal of inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers!