Week of celebration spotlights the importance of opening the engineering pipeline for women with Girl Day, Feb. 20

WALTHAM, Mass. — Building parachutes, rockets and optical sensors are just a few of the activities Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has planned for students across the country as it kicks off its nationwide celebration of National Engineers Week (Feb. 16-22). The weeklong festivities will showcase the positive impact of engineers on society and bring science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to life for tomorrow’s workforce.

“In celebration of National Engineers Week, we hope to inspire the next generation of innovators,” said Raytheon Chairman and CEO William H. Swanson. “As a technology and innovation driven company that thrives on diversity of thought and talent, we understand the importance of getting our young students interested in engineering.”

As part of Raytheon’s MathMovesU® education initiative, employees will host live events and hands-on engineering activities for thousands of students nationwide, demonstrating that engineers invent, design and create things that make a difference.

Raytheon is also challenging students to engineer an aspect of their school life – from lunch lines to monkey bars to classroom configuration – describing how they would design it better in a two minute video, for a chance to win up to $2,000 for their classroom. The “Build it Better” contest began Sunday, Feb. 16. More information can be found at the newly redesigned www.MathMovesU.com.

Raytheon has also assembled a toolkit of great resources to help parents, teachers and school guidance counselors talk to students about engineering careers — including a “10 Reasons to Love Engineering” infographic. The toolkit, along with math worksheets and online learning games, can be found at www.MathMovesU.com.

Highlights of planned activities include:

• Science Thrills Live interactive shows for park guests at INNOVENTIONS at Epcot® at the Walt Disney World® Resort: Raytheon will celebrate the week hosting Science from Scientists, with scientists demonstrating spectacular concepts before encouraging guests to design and experience their own thrill ride at The Sum of all Thrills™ presented by Raytheon at the INNOVENTIONS attraction. Raytheon employees will be on hand to lead guests in hands-on experiments, sharing their passion for engineering with all.
• MathMovesU Day events at the University of Arizona, the University of Alabama Huntsville and Raytheon’s El Segundo, Calif., campus, where Raytheon engineers will guide students through activities like building “galileoscopes” and designing and testing parachutes and straw rockets.
• National Engineers Week “Girl Day” events, including science and engineering demonstrations at The Hall at Patriot Place for hundreds of Girl Scouts from across New England, Girl Power Day in Tucson, Ariz., lab tours and engineering activities for 80 middle school girls in San Diego, and “Shadow an Engineer Day” and lab tours in El Segundo, Calif.
• Discover Engineering Family Day, Feb. 22, at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., where visitors will build mini hovercrafts with help from Raytheon engineers.
• Lab tours and engineering “games” – including electronic disassembly and reassembly, a Lego League robotics demo, and demonstrations of the scanning electron microscope, infrared camera, and tensile tester – for hundreds of students at the company’s locations in Arizona, California, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Texas.

As part of its National Engineers Week celebration, Raytheon will recognize its engineers for their outstanding contributions to the company’s legacy of innovation through a variety of activities, including the Excellence in Engineering and Technology Awards, Raytheon’s highest technical honor. Raytheon engineers will also be profiled throughout National Engineers Week on Raytheon.com.

Raytheon’s MathMovesU^® program is an initiative committed to increasing middle and elementary school students’ interest in math and science education by engaging them in hands-on, interactive activities. The innovative programs of MathMovesU include the traveling interactive experience MathAlive!^®; Raytheon’s Sum of all Thrills™ experience at INNOVENTIONS at Epcot^®, which showcases math in action as students design and experience their own thrill ride using math fundamentals; the “In the Numbers” game, a partnership with the New England Patriots on display at The Hall at Patriot Place presented by Raytheon; the company’s ongoing sponsorship of the MATHCOUNTS^® National Competition; and the MathMovesU scholarship and grant program. Follow MathMovesU and other Raytheon community outreach programs on Facebook and on Twitter @MathMovesU.

Groves Assisted Living Homes, LLC of Tucson (Sherre and Marshall Weeks) purchased the Groves Assisted Living facilities for $2.5 million ($42,000 per bed). The sale included three properties, 4014-4034 E Pima Street, 4110 E Spring Street and 2785 N Calle De Romy in Tucson and comprise six 10-bed licensed homes and an SFR. Convenient to Tucson’s central and eastside, the gated communities are fully secured and access controlled allowing our residents freedom to enjoy the outdoor environment.

With each residence designed and built specifically to serve the needs of seniors in need of special assistance with their daily activities, the Groves has been a part of Tucson’s adult care community since 1992, Arthur and Anita Flagg the sellers, joined the operating partnership in 1996 and in 2009 bought out the other partners.

The Groves meets all assisted living requirements for accessibility while maintaining a secure home environment. Each home has a comfortable living area where residents can mingle with others, watch television and enjoy the companionship of our caring staff.

The dining rooms are spacious and allow plenty of room for residents and guests to eat together. The open floor plans with wide hallways and accessible bathroom facilities are well suited for the care of our residents. Spacious bedroom options include companion rooms, private rooms and suites.

Rooms can be personalized with the resident’s own furniture and decorative items. Porches and outdoor walkways allow ample room to enjoy our Arizona climate in a safe and secure environment.

Bob Webb with R.W. Webb of Tucson handled the transaction for buyer and seller and can be reached at (520) 296-2230 for more information.

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[mepr-show rules=”58038″]The sale date was 12/2/2013. Buyer purchased with an SBA loan. No income information was obtained.[/mepr-show]

Stagnant revenue, lower-than-expected federal-aid and continued transportation funding shifts have created obstacles for the Arizona Department of Transportation in recent years. Despite the funding challenges, this year the agency will move forward with some long-anticipated projects in metro Phoenix and Tucson, and all across the state to widen existing highways, replace outdated bridges and build new modern traffic interchanges.

All of the projects will be funded with federal and state highway funds, which are collected through gas taxes, vehicle license fees and auto registration fees. In the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas, voters have approved supplemental tax revenue that enables more transportation projects to move forward in their respective regions.

The following are ADOT projects continue in Phoenix and Tucson for 2014. For a complete description on each project, please read the entire story on the ADOT Blog.

This year, ADOT will move forward with some long-anticipated projects to widen existing highways, replace outdated bridges and build new modern traffic interchanges.

All of the projects will be funded with federal and state highway funds, which are collected through gas taxes, vehicle license fees and auto registration fees. In the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas, voters have approved supplemental tax revenue that enables more transportation projects to move forward in their respective regions.

 Phoenix Area Projects for 2014

The New Year will see continued progress on the construction of the multilevel freeway-to-freeway interchange that will link Interstate 10 with Loop 303 in Goodyear. Drivers in the area have been able to watch crews build sections of elevated ramps that will carry traffic to and from Loop 303 north of I-10 by fall 2014. The $145 million I-10/Loop 303 interchange project also will slightly shift the alignment of I-10 to the north to allow the future connections between the two freeways. Other major projects include adding another lane on the Loop 101 (Pima Freeway) in Scottsdale and a new connection for drivers in southeast Mesa — State Route 24 (Gateway Freeway).

Loop 101 (Pima Freeway) in the Scottsdale area
ADOT is due to start work by fall on a project to add one new lane in each direction along Loop 101 between Shea Boulevard and the Loop 202 (Red Mountain Freeway). The new lanes will help improve traffic flow along that busy stretch of the Pima Freeway. ADOT also will add a new layer of smooth rubberized asphalt along the project’s entire 10-mile stretch south of Shea to the Red Mountain Freeway.

Loop 303 between Interstate 10 and Grand Avenue (US 60)
The ongoing series of projects to modernize the older two-lane Loop 303 into a six-lane freeway south of Grand Avenue will be completed during 2014. Drivers already are using a dozen miles of new lanes opened by ADOT in the area stretching from Thomas Road north to near Grand Avenue. Improvements this year will concentrate on finishing the project between Camelback Road and Glendale Avenue by summer and completing the $145 million Loop 303/Interstate 10 interchange south of McDowell Road in Goodyear by fall.

Loop 303 between Grand Avenue and Happy Valley Parkway in northwest Valley
A project to widen the current four-lane Loop 303 into a six-lane freeway along a four-mile stretch between Grand Avenue and Happy Valley Parkway in the northwest Valley is expected to start by the fall. Crews also will start work on a new interchange linking Loop 303 and El Mirage Road. A separate project, also scheduled to start by fall, will reconstruct the interchange linking Loop 303 and Grand Avenue. That new interchange will feature ramps traveling below ground level to allow improved connections between the two roadways.

State Route 24 (Gateway Freeway) in southeast Mesa
By spring, ADOT will open the new “freeway-to-freeway interchange” linking the Loop 202 Santan Freeway with the first mile of State Route 24 (Gateway Freeway) in southeast Mesa. The new connections will allow drivers to travel between Loop 202 and Ellsworth Road, providing faster access to areas around Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. The city of Mesa issued bonds to accelerate the construction schedule for the project by several years.

New Loop 101 HOV-Lane Ramps near Westgate in Glendale
A project that started last October will connect ramps via the Loop 101 HOV lanes to the center of the Maryland Avenue bridge near University of Phoenix Stadium. The new ramps will add access points for the Westgate area, Jobing.com Arena and the stadium. They will be completed this spring, well ahead of the Arizona Cardinals’ 2014 season and Super Bowl XLIX in 2015.

Interstate 10 Interchange at Perryville Road in West Valley
Crews will break ground this spring on a project to add on- and off-ramps to provide an I-10 interchange at Perryville Road at the boundary between Goodyear and Buckeye.

Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway
ADOT expects to release the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed South Mountain Freeway later this year, at which time a 60-day public review period will begin. The freeway would run east and west along Pecos Road and then turn north between 55th and 63rd avenues, connecting with I-10 on each end. The South Mountain Freeway is also part of the Regional Transportation Plan funding passed by Maricopa County voters in 2004 through Proposition 400.

 Tucson Area Projects for 2014

The state’s second-largest metropolitan area will see several highway projects move forward in 2014. In early 2014, ADOT will complete work on a major roadway widening project in Tucson that will expand Interstate 10 to four lanes in each direction, while building an overpass so freeway traffic can avoid a busy intersection that is often congested when trains from the Union Pacific Railroad are in use. New projects in the Tucson region include State Route 77 (Oracle Road) widening and the expansion of State Route 86 (Ajo Highway).

Interstate 10 Widening (Ruthrauff to Prince roads in Tucson)
ADOT is nearing completion of a $76.4 million project to widen more than two miles of I-10 between Ruthrauff and Prince roads in Tucson. Major improvements include widening the freeway to four lanes in each direction and reconstructing the Prince Road traffic interchange so Prince Road will pass over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and I-10. The project is slated to be completed this spring. This project comes on the heels of a six-mile-long reconstruction and widening project that was completed in 2009 through the downtown Tucson corridor between Prince Road and 29th Street. Once the latest I-10 project is complete, ADOT will have expanded an eight-mile segment of I-10 to four lanes in each direction through the Tucson metro area.

State Route 77 Widening (Tangerine Road to Pinal County Line)
In summer 2014, ADOT will upgrade a six-mile section of SR 77 (Oracle Road) between Tangerine Road and the Pinal County Line from two lanes to three lanes in each direction. Along with widening the roadway, planned improvements include raised medians, traffic signal and drainage improvements, wildlife crossings, sound walls and multiuse paths. The $44 million project is slated to take two years to complete.

State Route 86 (Valencia to Kinney roads)
In late 2014, ADOT is expected to begin construction on expanding SR 86 (Ajo Highway) to two lanes in each direction from Valencia Road to Kinney Road in Pima County, 10 miles west of downtown Tucson. This seven-mile-long, $45 million project in Pima County will enhance safety and improve traffic flow on the highway, which serves as a regional transportation route between Tucson and south-central Arizona. SR 86 provides access to the Tohono O’odham Nation and is widely used to reach the popular tourist destination in Mexico called Puerto Peñasco, also known as Rocky Point.

Interstate 10 Realignment/Cienega Creek Bridges (Marsh Station)
Approximately 25 miles east of downtown Tucson, ADOT is nearly completed with a safety improvement project on I-10 that began late in 2012. The $17.2 million project included last spring’s demolition of the old Pantano Union Pacific Railroad Bridge, which now allows most of today’s taller commercial trucks to travel on I-10 and avoid the current 67-mile detour to pass through the area. Other improvements include construction of two new bridges at Cienega Creek that will prevent flooding on the highway, and reconstructing and realigning I-10 to provide a divided median to enhance safety. The project is scheduled for completion this May.

To read complete description on each project as well as other state projects that ADOT continues to work on for 2014, please go to entire story on the ADOT Blog.