MARCY, N.Y. (WKTV) - More than 300 Central New York middle and high school students came to SUNYIT's 11th annual Technology Showcase on Thursday, showing off their projects from skills learned in the classroom.

"We learn about physics and science and how different angles can catch more wind. So it's really interesting to actually work with it," says 6th grader Brit Douglas from Ballston Spa Middle School.

Douglas and his team built one of 40 miniature wind turbines at the showcase, his generating energy out of PVC pipes and storage container tops.

The wind turbine competition was just one of the highlights of SUNYIT's technology showcase, designed to get students interested in science, technology, engineering and math and have fun doing it.

"You have to quickly problem solve, you have to prototype, you have to test, you have to go through iterations in order to come up with the optimal design," says SUNY IT K-12 Outreach Director Elizabeth Rossi. "It's all the engineering process, but a big part of that is the teamwork."

The showcase featured team and individual events of bridge building and testing, student-designed robots out of Legos, even a super-sized yo-yo, all giving students practice in the changing technology field.

"I mean, the rate of innovation is high, so what they need to do is learn how to learn, learn how to compete, learn how to collaborate and do it with a really strong math and science background," says Rossi.

Local colleges and companies were also at the showcase talking to students about where science and math could take them into college and a career.