Perhaps best known for hosting Super Bowls and Gasparilla parades, housing MacDill Air Force Base and being home to professional sports teams and high profile athletes – the crown jewel of the Tampa Bay region is oh-so-much more. Tampa is on the verge of achieving many long-planned ambitions. Downtown redevelopment, the expansion of the city's port and airport, a planned and a substantial increase in research activities at the University of South Florida fuel its progress.