As big as it is, the Super Bowl has only fleeting impact on its annual host city. But a team of HBS alumni in Santa Clara, California, where Super Bowl 50 will be played this weekend, found a creative way to take advantage of the local excitement to promote the region’s tech and science businesses and give middle school students a window into the tech future.

Members of the HBS Association of Northern California's Community Partners Program worked with the Santa Clara Office of Civic Innovation (OCI) to launch the Technology and Innovation Challenge, an ongoing effort to engage Bay Area companies in developing and showcasing solutions promoting engagement with the community. One high-profile result of that effort is the STEM Innovation Bowl, a technology-oriented educational event on January 30 that showcased the wonders of virtual reality to more than 10,500 area students and their families.

Led by Santa Clara University professor Juan Montermoso (DBA 1977), a member of the Community Partners team, SCU business students developed plans to engage area technology firms as partners or sponsors as well as create a marketing effort targeting local schools. Participants at the event joined in demonstrations of immersive technology, virtual and augmented reality, remote-controlled robots, 3D video, gaming, and Santa Clara’s interactive tool, MapSantaClara.

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