FORT WORTH, Texas (March 9, 2017) – On March 24, Tarrant County College will host its second annual Converge Conference & Expo, a regional meeting exploring cutting-edge research in tissue engineering and bioprinting. This year’s event, held at the Trinity River Campus, also will focus on innovations in the aerospace industry and provide career support for veterans and students in STEM careers.
The daylong conference will offer several sessions focusing on innovations in the aerospace industry, advances in tissue engineering, as well as STEM opportunities and achievements at TCC.
Keynote speaker Mathew Varkey, Ph.D., research fellow with the Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine, will discuss career pathways in regenerative medicine and how the discipline is being used to create living, functional tissues for repairing, even replacing, tissues or organs that no longer function, due to age, disease, damage or other problems.
During the morning session, Varkey will discuss specialized careers in tissue engineering and medicine with students from TCC Trinity River’s Texas Academy of Biomedical Sciences, TCC Northeast, as well as the Collegiate Academy at TCC Northeast. Lockheed Martin Vice President of Missiles and Fire Control Randy O’Neal will highlight the company’s products as well as insights into the future of manufacturing. TCC Chancellor Eugene V. Giovannini opens this year’s conference by greeting area veterans.
Additionally, one person will receive a travel scholarship to attend a summer course at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and four other students will receive awards from the TCC Foundation.
Attendees will have an opportunity to visit with STEM recruiters during the conference, which runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Action Suites on the fourth floor of the Trinity River Campus, 300 Trinity River Circle.