Thousands of people gathered today at the Foundation Park with a common goal: celebrate science.
"We've been 2 years without this program and it is back and better than ever," exhibitor Joe Johnson said.
CEO of SVN Commercial Advisory Group, Sid Bhatt, said they enjoy this networking opportunity.
"We are meeting a lot of biotech companies and a lot of innovative companies and we are happy to help them and advise them," Bhatt said.
Santa Fe High School Institute of Biotechnology also had a booth at the event.
“We gear high school students to preparatory jobs in the biotech industry, as well as give them advantages for college applications, resumes, etc. That prepares them for higher education or the real world," Wyland Oyama said.
High school student Isabel Newcomb said she plans to study biotechnology.
“I feel like the most interesting thing I've seen here are the automatic micro hi-tech machines. Instead of having to do, like microfiber padding by hand, it's a machine. It's more efficient, and I find that extremely interesting," Newcomb said.
Some of the visitors said they were surprised by this growth in biotech in the county.
"I really liked it and I learned a lot. I was so unaware that this was going on just 30 minutes away from my home," Marta Reguera said.
The event also featured a guided bus tour for visitors to learn about the local life science community.
“Driving by Alachua and not knowing all the interesting work that's been taking place in our community. I didn't know there were so many companies even, and so I really appreciate that bus tour that we took to get a sense of the area," Vanessa Enriquez said.