Janay, 12, and Jaoquin, 7, Silva-Soto play with an augmented reality app at the TechKermés Festival, May 31, 2025 at the H-E-B Eastside Tech Hub. The festival was hosted by Latinitas, a nonprofit organization providing STEAM opportunities to Hispanic students in Central Texas. It had tech and creative activities from companies like Dell, Applied Materials and CapMetro.
Janay, 12, and Jaoquin, 7, Silva-Soto play with an augmented reality app at the TechKermés Festival, May 31, 2025 at the H-E-B Eastside Tech Hub. The festival was hosted by Latinitas, a nonprofit organization providing STEAM opportunities to Hispanic students in Central Texas. It had tech and creative activities from companies like Dell, Applied Materials and CapMetro.
Santiago Bernal, 8, makes a transistor cookie at Applied Materials’ booth during Latinitas’ TechKermés Festival on May 31, 2025 at the H-E-B Eastside Tech Hub. Antonio Quintero, a project manager at Applied Materials, said the Austin-based semiconductor manufacturer is looking to connect more with the community and share its opportunities with Austinites. “It’s always good to be in the community, and it’s always good to show the next generation what we do and how the technology can shape the future,” Quintero said.
Attendees make LED nightlights at Latinitas’ TechKermés Festival, May 31, 2025 at the H-E-B Eastside Tech Hub. Founded in 2002, Latinitas aims to empower young girls and communities through “culturally relevant” education. Events like TechKermés expose Hispanic students to STEAM fields and companies in the area. “The numbers when it comes to Latinas in tech, the percentage is really, really low. These events give them the opportunity to think of a career that they want to engage with,” Latinitas spokesperson Salwa Yordi told the American-Statesman.
Dancers with Danza Azteca Señor de Ojo Zarco prepare to perform at Latinitas TechKermés Festival, May 31, 2025 at the H-E-B Eastside Tech Hub. The festival, which aimed to expose Hispanic students in Central Texas to various STEAM companies and careers, had performances from groups like Danza Azteca Señor de Ojo Zarco as part of the nonprofit’s culturally relevant education component.
Luna Vargas, 10, and Veronica Miranda check out a S.O. 100 Robot Arm at the TechKermés Festival, May 31, 2025 at the H-E-B Eastside Tech Hub. The robot arms, created by hobbyist Matthew Waller, has a leader and follower arm that help do everyday tasks. “It makes the technology a lot more real for people when it has a physical embodiment, and they can get some ideas of what they would like to do with it. It’s really here to spark the imagination of what these kinds of fields can do, and also it’s something that a hobbyist can build or assemble, and so it makes it more accessible,” Waller told the American-Statesman.
Janay, 12, and Jaoquin, 7, Silva-Soto play with an augmented reality app at the TechKermés Festival, May 31, 2025 at the H-E-B Eastside Tech Hub. At the event, several companies and organizations set up booths for students to test out different technologies: robotics, coding, podcasting, artificial intelligence, semiconductor manufacturing and more. Latinitas wanted to use this event to kick off the summer and expose Hispanic students in Central Texas to careers in science, technology, engineering, arts and math.
Dancers with Danza Azteca Señor de Ojo Zarco perform at the TechKermés Festival, May 31, 2025 at the H-E-B Eastside Tech Hub. As part of its culturally relevant education component, Latinitas brought performances from around Texas and companies located in Central Texas to connect with students and share future opportunities with them.
Mosaics made by attendees at Latinitas’ TechKermés Festival, May 31, 2025 at the H-E-B Eastside Tech Hub. Latinitas spokesperson Salwa Yordi told the American-Statesman that the nonprofit always likes to include an arts component to its events because it believes it is as important as science and technology fields. At the event, students made coasters using multicolored tiles.
Santiago Bernal, 8, checks out a microchip while making a transistor cookie at the Applied Materials table during the TechKermés Festival, May 31, 2025 at the H-E-B Eastside Tech Hub. Antonio Quintero, a project manager at Applied Materials, said the cookies were to simulate the process of assembling a semiconductor. “Each one of the steps makes you one step closer to having a finished product. So what you do is, just like what we at Applied Materials do and how we make the chips, you just make it one step at a time. You build that up, and then at the end you will have a transistor on your cookie, just like a computer chip,” Quintero said.
Santiago Bernal, 8, makes a transistor cookie during the TechKermés Festival, May 31, 2025 at the H-E-B Eastside Tech Hub. The booth from Applied Materials walked students through the process of manufacturing semiconductors. Applied Materials is wanting to connect more with the Central Texas community, according to Antonio Quintero, a project manager at the Austin-based company.
Maverick Scott Fossi trains his robot to wrestle at the Science in a Suitcase activity area during the TechKermés Festival, May 31, 2025 at the H-E-B Eastside Tech Hub. At the booth, students coded commands for individuals robots and then wrestled against their opponents in a small ring. Drawing crowds at Latinitas’ festival, the booth was a big hit, exposing students to coding and robotics fields simultaneously.
Leonardo and Katherine Luna make a mosaic together during Latinitas’ TechKermés Festival, May 31, 2025 at the H-E-B Eastside Tech Hub. At the booth hosted by J Muzacz, a local artist, students created coasters using different colored tiles. Latinitas, which provides culturally relevant education tailored toward Hispanic students in Central Texas, likes to include art components to all of its events, which usually center around science and technology.
Attendees make mosaics during the TechKermés Festival, May 31, 2025 at the H-E-B Eastside Tech Hub. Guillermo Garcia attended the event alongside his daughter Sarah Garcia to learn more about different STEAM companies and fields that his daughter could pursue in the future. Sarah said she loved the coding booths the best because “it’s really interesting, I find it fun to make, and I also like to express myself too.” Sarah said she wants to code her own video game someday.
Jaoquin Silva-Soto, 7, tests out an augmented reality app at the TechKermés Festival, May 31, 2025 at the H-E-B Eastside Tech Hub. The event allowed students to test out different technology fields operating in Austin. According to a 2024 report by the Kapor Foundation, only one in 10 U.S. workers in technology is Latino with only a small percentage holding leadership roles. “These events give them the opportunity to think of a career that they want to engage with. Also, the digital literacy component, too. It’s an opportunity to create an ecosystem where somebody that looks like them, speaks Spanish, talks in their language, shares their work, they could see themselves in tech someday,” Latinitas spokesperson Salwa Yordi said.
