The United States is facing a growing challenge: students are often asked to make decisions about their futures before they have meaningful exposure to the careers available to them. At the same time, industries including aerospace, advanced manufacturing, engineering, robotics, and AI face growing demand for skilled talent.
To help bridge that gap, the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) created The HIVE (Human Innovation Experience) in partnership with Boeing.
The HIVE is a national workforce development initiative designed to make career exploration tangible and relevant to students early in their education. Rather than simply introducing students to potential careers, the program brings real-world workplace environments, technologies, and industry professionals directly into schools and communities.
The goal is to help students see how their interests and skills can translate into future opportunities, particularly in communities where those jobs already exist. Through hands-on exploration and continued learning, The HIVE aims to broaden students' understanding of what is possible, build confidence in pursuing STEM and technical pathways, and create stronger connections between education, local employers, and the future workforce.
COSI designed The HIVE as a scalable workforce development model that connects classroom learning to real-world careers while reflecting the opportunities available in each community it enters.
Backed by Boeing's $550,000 investment, The HIVE launched as a two-year national roadshow that will reach 20 cities across the United States. Each activation is tailored to the industries, employers, and workforce needs shaping the local economy, allowing students to explore career pathways that exist within their own communities.
Students rotate through six interactive career exploration stations representing fields including aerospace manufacturing, engineering, robotics, skilled trades, and AI-enabled technologies. Each station translates a real job category into a hands-on activity modeled on workplace environments, exposing students to the skills, tools, and problem-solving involved in those careers. Immersive virtual reality experiences take that exposure further, placing students inside aerospace and manufacturing settings that would otherwise be inaccessible in a classroom.
Industry professionals are embedded directly into the experience. At the inaugural Newark, Ohio activation, Boeing employees shared their own career journeys, answered students' questions, and helped demonstrate the range of pathways into STEM and technical careers.
The HIVE was also designed to extend beyond a single day. After participating, students join an ongoing learning network offering follow-up workshops, educational resources, and continued workforce exploration opportunities, helping turn an initial moment of curiosity into sustained engagement.
The model is intentionally adaptable. Following its Boeing launch, COSI partnered with Ohio Life Sciences for an activation centered on biotechnology, engineering, and advanced manufacturing, with professionals from organizations including AtriCure, Resilience, Vertiv, and Miami University. A subsequent Blue Origin activation expanded the model into additional aerospace and engineering disciplines.
By combining experiential learning, industry mentorship, immersive technology, local workforce alignment, and continued engagement, The HIVE creates a replicable model for helping young people connect what they learn today with careers they can pursue tomorrow.
The HIVE launched in April 2026 with more than 250 eighth-grade students in Newark, Ohio, and has since expanded to new cities, industry partners, and career pathways.
During the inaugural activation, students rotated through hands-on career experiences, engaged directly with industry professionals, and explored technologies and workplaces typically inaccessible in a classroom. Participants also received a State of Ohio certificate of participation and entered The HIVE's continued learning network.
The initiative then expanded nationally through an America 250 innovation showcase in San Francisco and the National STEM Festival in Washington, D.C.
The model has also demonstrated its ability to adapt across industries. In July, approximately 84 students participated in a HIVE activation with Ohio Life Sciences at Butler Tech Bioscience Center, exploring biotechnology, engineering, and advanced manufacturing alongside professionals from leading regional organizations. In August, approximately 100 middle and high school students participated in a Blue Origin activation in Austin focused on aerospace and engineering disciplines, including a virtual reality rocket launch experience.
Across the three documented Newark, Butler Tech, and Austin activations alone, The HIVE has reached more than 430 students, while establishing partnerships spanning aerospace, life sciences, engineering, and advanced manufacturing.
With a 20-city national roadshow underway, The HIVE's early results demonstrate the potential for a scalable workforce development model that connects young people with real employers, real career pathways, and opportunities that exist in their own communities.
