Tech Tour

Get Ready - Tech Tour 2018 Is Coming Soon!

The 2018 CBIC Tech Tour, a local event to introduce area middle and high school students to the dynamic high technology world that exists in the Charlottesville/Albemarle County metro region, is happening again on Tuesday, October 9, 2018. Students representing approximately 22 regional schools will spend the day traveling to over 50 selected companies for hands-on visits to meet employees and experience the use of technology in unique and specialized operations.

Last year’s tour featured the largest number of students participating in the Tech Tour’s history to visit companies involved with technologies ranging from machine learning and artificial intelligence to digital marketing to health informatics, and we are hoping for a continuation of this interest by our future leaders.

Celebrating its 15^th year, this day-long technology tour exposes students to the challenging and diverse career possibilities offered by our regional technology community. The tour is designed to help them envision themselves as technology employees, professionals and entrepreneurs in the next wave of tech advancements in our area.

We had an outstanding group of sponsors last year, representing organizations that understand the importance of STEM education to building the technology workforce. We want to thank each and every one of them, including Felton Group, City of Charlottesville, County of Albemarle, Data Science Institute at UVA, Innovation Policyworks, Astraea, Lexis Nexis, PVCC, Ting, NeoVentus, Virga Ventures, Afton Scientific, National Optronics, coshxlabs, Willowtree, Elder Research and Grit Coffee.

Participating organizations include the Center for Open Science, Borrowed & Blue, Moonlighting, the i.Lab at UVA, Tech Dynamism, Silverchair and Willowtree Apps, among numerous others. A complete list of companies can be found on the interactive Tech Tour Map created by Alleyway Consulting, LLC available at http://techtour.cvilleinnovation.org/

If you would like to get involved with the 2018 Tech Tour or need more information about this event, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Check out this video from a past Tech Tour!

2017 Tech Tour Host Companies

Check out the Tech Tour interactive tour map at techtour.cvilleinnovation.org!

Tech Tour Feedback

"Holy Trinity had a great learning experience with Tech Tour yesterday. Our tour guides were energetic and enthusiastic about their work and really made an effort to relate to the students. The guides balanced teaching with hands-on learning and encouraged questions from the students. I really could have written this email every year that we have attended Tech Tour because we learn so much each time. Thank you for Tech Tour." - chaperone

"Thx for all your work! @K12AlbemarleLab had a blast, learned a ton, and we're feeling inspired!" - chaperone

"Went on the CBIC Tech Tour today. It was so fun to do and was awesome to see what tech stuff was going on in our local area." - student

"I highly enjoyed the tech-tour today!" - student

"We had a blast with everyone and the event you all put on ran so smoothly. Thank you for including us. We will keep ramping it up as the years go." - engineering challenge facilitator

2018 Tech Tour Committee

Here is the 2018 Tech Tour Committee. Let us know if you want to be a part of this amazing team!

Kim Wilkens (Chairwoman), K-8 CS Program Coordinator, St. Anne’s-Belfield School
Adam Kuchta (School Liaison)
Andrew Renshaw (PVCC Engineering Program, Opening Program & Lunch), Coordinator of Dual Enrollment and Off-Campus Programs, PVCC
Anne Ernst (Backup CCS Liaison)
Chris Florez (Company Recruiter)
Christine Scott (CCS Liaison), Charlottesville High School
Jason Ness (Company Recruiter), Business Development Manager, City of Charlottesville
Jerry Reynolds (Company Recruiter & Website), Online Learning Coordinator, Blue Ridge Virtual Governor's School
Jon Moriarty - MarCom
Lily Garcia Walton
Miriam Rushfinn (PVCC Space Liaison), Program Manager, Youth & Educational Symposia, PVCC
Tracey Greene (Sponsor Recruiter), CBIC's Executive Director
Trae Turner (Tour Guide Recruiter), Marketing Director, Geezeo

How Can I Be a Part of Tech Tour 2018?

Join the Tech Tour Committee - get behind-the-scenes of the tech tour magic, make connections across the local tech scene and inspire the next generation in tech!
Showcase your company as a Tour Venue - being a host involves providing a one-hour inspiring tour of your organization and explaining the role technology plays in your work to a group of 10-15 students.
Be a Tour Guide - ride along with a student tour group and help them get the most out of their tech tour.
Become a Tech Tour Sponsor - support this amazing day plus the opportunity for 2 participants to earn scholarships toward their future STEM education.
Participate - The tour is open to 7th through 12th grade students. Students sign-up to attend through their school’s Technology Specialist or Career Counselor

Be a Tech Tour Guide

CBIC's annual Tech Tour is all about igniting local students' interest in technology-related careers and showing the variety of opportunities available in our community to pursue their passions. Being a tour guide means getting a behind-the-scenes tour of 2 local tech companies or organizations along with 10-15 middle or high school students and their school chaperone.

Your job, should you choose to accept it, is to help keep the tours flowing smoothly - plus you may just get to hang out with the next Megan Smith or Bill Gates! Click below to send us your info:

Yes! I'd like to be a Tour Guide!

Tech Tour Sponsorship Packages

CBIC Tech Tour is excited to offer the following underwriting opportunities to local companies who want to partner with us in providing this experience to local students. Companies that are not able to host or provide tours often help by sponsoring to ensure that the local community still has the chance to benefit from this innovative opportunity for our young entrepreneurs.