'Picture Yourself on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus' attracts hundreds of students, families

Day includes exploration of STEM careers, as well as internships and volunteer opportunities

Hundreds of middle and high school students and their parents took part in the second annual "Picture Yourself on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Powered by AT&T" event Saturday in order to get a behind-the-scenes look at the variety of work that takes place there every day, including medical, manufacturing, research and entrepreneurial organizations. The half-day event was designed to introduce future STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers, internships and volunteer opportunities to area students in grades seven through 12, and to demonstrate the importance of STEM education and the field's significant impact on the region's resurgence.

Beginning at dig at the Innovation Center, students had an opportunity to tour the Medical Campus, participate in hands-on activities and hear from experts at the University at Buffalo, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Kaleida Health, Hauptman-Woodward Institute, the Jacobs Institute, Unyts, Buffalo Manufacturing Works, as well as the Innovation Center. The event was powered by AT&T, and hosted by iSciWNY, the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and its partner institutions.

Students participated Saturday in the "Picture Yourself on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Powered by AT&T" event.

Families toured the medical campus in downtown Buffalo at their own pace and took part in varied activities, including test driving the Robotic Surgery Simulator (RoSS); viewing cancer cells through a microscope; holding an actual human brain; touring facilities such as an active research lab, catheterization lab and hospital rooms; watching a pre-recorded surgery; viewing robotic demonstrations and 3D printers in action; and taking a turn as a virtual welder. Families could also take a break and enjoy lunch at Lloyd's Taco Truck.

"AT&T is proud to collaborate with the University at Buffalo's New York State Center of Excellence Bioinformatics & Life Sciences and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus to provide the opportunity to introduce students and their families to the types of fascinating career opportunities available in their own backyard if they follow a STEM educational path," said Marissa Shorenstein, president, AT&T New York. "AT&T's support of this event grows out of our ongoing commitment to provide resources for STEM-related educational programming in Western New York to help equip the students of today with the needed science skills to compete in the global economy of tomorrow."

"Part of the BNMC's mission is to increase access to the career opportunities on the medical campus for everyone, especially our neighbors and students within the City of Buffalo," said Matt Enstice, president and CEO of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. "It's so inspiring to see the looks on the students' faces when they walk in to these state-of-the-art facilities, as they experience the incredible research, medicine and science that happens here every day, and when they realize that there are career pathways right here in Buffalo for them when they finish school."

"Students, and their parents, will have the opportunity to realize and experience the great things that are happening on the medical campus, including ground-breaking research, 3D printing and industry-leading surgical technologies," said Dr. Sandra Small, integrated science education manager for the NYS Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences. "It is important for students and their families to understand what the medical campus has to offer, not only for the community, but for their futures in STEM careers."

The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus is a self-sustaining social enterprise successfully combining innovation, job creation and urban revitalization. It serves as the umbrella organization of the anchor institutions that make up the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, located within the 120-acre campus bordering Allentown, the fruit belt and downtown. The BNMC fosters conversation and collaboration among its member institutions, its partners and the community to address critical issues impacting them, including entrepreneurship, energy, access and transportation, workforce and procurement, neighborhoods and healthy communities, with the goal of increasing economic development and building a strong community. Visit www.bnmc.org.