KRI hosted the inaugural class of P-Tech (a national initiative promoting careers in skilled trade) students from Poudre High School. Students learned the role ion sources play in shaping the future of technology, what education and experience is needed for a career in this field and toured the facility to see how ion sources are assembled.

For the students, the highlight was seeing a working ion source complete with an arcing ion beam. For niche industries like ion sources, educating the youth to the array of careers in this field will only bolster the advances in ion technology as young people learn how dynamic and exciting these careers can be. For KRI, the highlight was watching employees young and old, from all walks of life, relate to the next generation of workers over a mutual love of science and technology.

For all the young people who dreamed of going to space when they were little, learning the ion source’s history originated with space propulsion only furthered their excitement about the types of careers possible in this field. 

It’s easy to forget that many of the jobs our young people will hold haven’t even been invented yet, as it wasn’t even 20 years that an app developer or lyft driver wasn’t a job, so reminding students, teachers, and existing workers that dreaming of the impossible is what moves progress forward was the true benefit of the tour.