(FOX40.COM) — On Friday, the California Capital Airshow hosted local middle and high school students at Mather Airport for their annual STEM Expo “If You Can See It, You Can Be It.”

The students were treated to an afternoon filled with panels featuring the nation’s leading STEM professionals and also the opportunity to have networking opportunities with local STEM mentors.

“The event aims to inspire older students to see what their future careers could look like in the science, technology, engineering, mathematics and aviation fields,” California Capital Airshow wrote in a news release.

The STEM panel speakers included:
•U-2 Dragon Lady USAF pilot, Major Robert “Papa” Bayer
•Amazon Global Air Director of Air Safety and Operations, Alison Faddis
•NVIDIA Data Science and AI Infrastructure, Taurean Dyer
• Micron Systems Architect, Shashank Bangalore Lakshman
• Sacramento County Department of Airports Deputy Director of Airport Commercial Development, Stephen Clark

The California Capital Airshow is a non-profit airshow that was designed to honor Sacramento’s lengthy aviation history but also serves as a way to inspire and educate the next generation of STEM students.

On top of providing an opportunity for young students to learn more about a future in STEM, the California Capital Airshow also provides scholarships for high school seniors looking to seek a higher education in a STEM field.

In 2023, California Capital Airshow awarded 18 scholarships for high school students in Placer, Sacramento, Sutter and Yolo counties.