news / press room

File this story under “growing our future work force”:

Tucson eighth-grader Rachel Charles was selected as one of 40 finalists from across the nation in the Discovery Young Scientist Challenge 2000. She was picked from among 1,623 state science fair participants for her project “Pasteurizing Water for the Third World.”

Charles and the other young scientists ranging from 10 to 14 years old will be spending Oct. 21 - 26 in an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., where they will showcase their scientific and communicative skills in a special competition under the direct supervision of Smithsonian scientists.
Competition categories include paleontology, "textile forensics," ichthyology, and geology. The young scientists are judged on their communication skills, leadership skills, problem-solving abilities, and collaborative skills.

Awards include scholarships of $10,000, $5,000, $3,000, and $1,000. Along with other discretionary prizes, the awards will total $100,000.

This national competition is an effort of Discovery Communications Inc. (i.e. the Discovery Channel). The program specifically targets middle school-aged children, because that is when interests in science are generally the highest. This is the second year for the program.

Tech Park brings $1B to Tucson

According to a recent report, the University of Arizona Science and Technology Park pumped $1 billion into the Tucson economy during 1999.

The report indicated a total dollar impact of $996.5 million in 1999, as compared to $669.8 million in a 1997-98 study by the same group.

The 1999 impact breaks down into $478 million for wages, $38.9 million for tax revenues, and $479.6 million for other impacts, which includes items such as rent and interest.

The 21 park tenants employed 5,309 people in 1999, with total wages of $250.4 million. Another 5,557 indirect and induced jobs were created with wages of $187.4 million, and 1,673 construction-related jobs were created paying $40.2 million.

In taxes, the park paid Tucson $8.2 million, Pima County $7.3 million, and the state $23.4 million.
Another study from the UA Office of Economic Development indicated the top two optics employers in Arizona are IBM and Raytheon, both of which work out of the Tech Park.

Ephibian in Europe

Already experiencing nationwide expansion, the Tucson-based Web site design firm Ephibian reached Europe recently with a contract to help convert Everyday.com, one of the largest Internet portals in Europe, to a new technology platform.

Everyday.com opened early this year and provides its services in 14 languages, including French, Italian, and German.

Under their agreement, Ephibian will help develop the software architecture of the site and provide management expertise.