Over the weekend, staff representing the highly anticipated new Google Data Center here in Clarksville joined forces with APSU’s Drone Team to promote and recruit youth for a Google-sponsored Statewide STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Competition scheduled in Spring 2020.

Sixty middle school students had pre-registered for the Riverfest event. Working with staff from the Austin Peay GIS Center and members of the Drone Club, they assembled a small drone and were allowed to take it home, according to Enoch Moeller, Google’s Site Operations Manager. Google’s hope is that “they will practice flying it and come back in the Spring for the STEM Competition.”

For those who visited the Innovation Games at Riverfest, the APSU Drone Team provided a drone flight simulator, a display of their diverse drone fleet and conversation about how a young enthusiast gets started.

Moeller would provide “no comment” on how big the new data center will be, how many people it will employ or exactly when it will open for business. However,  he offered “counting vendors and subcontractors, we have over 200 people working for the project and that does not include construction.” He also said, in regards to the partnership with Austin Peay,  “We are really looking forward to cultivating that relationship in the years to come.”