Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic’s AP Computer Science Principles class recently toured the offices of Ascender in Pittsburgh. Ascender is the next step in evolution of venture capitalism growing out the work the company did under the name Thrill Mill. Instead of merely providing funds for companies to begin work on making a viable product, Ascender takes this much farther. In addition to capital, they provide everything from mentoring and leadership to office space and team building resources. Moreover, they are continuing to find ways to do so much more.
Leading the tour was Jennifer Sharpe, Program Manager for Ascender, who also gave an informative and stimulating presentation on everything that Ascender does to help make STEM based industry in the city of Pittsburgh grow. As a part of the presentation, she had the students participate in an exercise mirroring the process by which companies are selected for Ascender’s incubation chamber. The students were given three pitches by various potential companies, including team members, and the product idea. After careful consideration, the determination had to be made as to which idea was most viable to make a profit.
Jennifer also included information on “Thrival,” Ascender’s yearly music festival and innovation conference. Part of the mission of Ascender is to help usher in a new wave of modern industry. By converting an old Steel Mill into a place where people can come together with new ideas, Ascender is poised to help bring Pittsburgh into the here and now of STEM industry.
After the presentation, the students were able to walk around and see first hand the office space and workstations the ascender has to offer, as well as a few of the companies currently utilizing Ascender’s services to make their dreams a reality.
One of the last stops on our June 2016 CWNC STEM Careers Tour was TechShop Pittsburgh located in Bakery Square in Pittsburgh’s East End. 
Our guide, Justin Harvilla, began as a member at TechShop Pittsburgh, joining to have a place to do sculpting. After being a member, he joined the staff. He provided us with a great tour of the facility, giving us an overview of all the equipment available at the facility. After touring, we were treated to a demonstration of the laser cutter. The laser cutter enables carving and whittling of cardboard, glass, wood and other materials with amazing accuracy. Laser cutting directs a high-power laser through optics. The focused laser beam is directed at the material, which then melts or burns the material, leaving an edge with a high-quality surface finish. As opposed to being controlled manually by hand wheels or levers, the laser is guided by precise programmed commands. 
Advantages of laser cutting over mechanical cutting include an easier ability to secure the material as it is being machined and a reduction in contamination of the material. Additionally precision may be better, since the laser does not wear during the process. As a souvenir of our visit, our guide presented us with laser cutting the the ‘Grow a Generation’ tree. So cool!
A high point came as each student got to use an X-Box controller to drive the lunar excavation robot. The robot was about the size of a golf cart with tires to grip the lunar surface and Kevlar scoops to dig into the soil. Imaginings of one day visiting the moon filled their minds as they operated one of the robots that will lay the groundwork for future human colonization.