engineering

Guest Blog By Melissa Rhoads, biotechnology strategist at Lockheed Martin Every New Year’s Eve, my siblings and cousins wrote down what we wanted to be when we grew up, and year after year, I dreamed of becoming a veterinarian. It was not until I cleaned manure all day at a volunteer zoo event that I realized I wanted to explore other options. So how did I find my passion? Well, I love to solve problems, and at its core, engineering is problem-solving. It is a way of thinking. As a result, while I started as a biology major, I graduated college with a degree in electrical engineering.…
Popular Science  magazine -- one of the leading sources of news in technology, science, gadgets, space, green tech and more -- is returning as a key Media Partner with the Festival, bringing to the event not only a vast array of science media expertise, but also a special surprise: famed DIYer-at-large and zombie hunter, Chris Hackett, who is a contributing editor of Popular Science and who also hosted the Science Channel's avant garde DIY show, "Stuck With Hackett"! Popular Science has been a major source of science and technology news since this award-winning publication was founded back in…
Image from National Academy of Engineering This past week, the USA Science and Engineering Festival lost a dear friend and advisor —and America lost one of its true visionaries in education, engineering and technology.  Dr. Charles M. Vest was a tireless advocate for research and science in roles as President of the National Academy of Engineering and President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  He passed at home of pancreatic cancer at the age of 72. Dr. Vest was best known as the 15th president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,  serving from 1990 to 2004. He led…
X-STEM - presented by Northrop Grumman Foundation and MedImmune - is an Extreme STEM symposium for elementary through high school students featuring interactive presentations by an exclusive group of visionaries who aim to empower and inspire kids about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). These top STEM role models and industry leaders are sure to ignite your students’ curiosity through storytelling and live demonstrations. Our spotlight on our X-STEM Speakers continues with Author and Publisher of Skeptic Magazine Dr. Michael Shermer. In this world of…
By Stacy Jannis Connecting bright young minds with the tools and techniques they need today is the first step towards developing our work force tomorrow. Businesses and government have issued a challenge to educators to help this next generation acquire the creative high-performance STEM skills they need to better transform the world. The evolution of learning technologies, combined with new frameworks for learning standards, will help equip and propel our students forward towards this goal. So how could our "Science in Fiction" video contest help students practice and refine these much…
You could call them child or teen prodigies – wunderkinds, who at remarkable young ages have already begun making their mark upon science and technology as innovators and visionaries. The USA Science & Engineering Festival not only applauds such young achievers, but is recruiting some of the best of them to serve on its new Youth Advisory Board. The achievements of these recently-appointed board members will not only help us further excite, inspire and reach out to more students during Festival 2014, but will also call attention to the impressive cadre of young talent that is on the…
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) – a maestro at making science come alive for K-12 students, teachers and the public – will once more bring its magic to the Festival next year, returning as a major sponsor and presenting a reprise of its wildly popular "Meet the Scientists" and "Science of Our Senses" hands-on encounters at Festival Expo 2014 – but this time with an added twist! One of the founding sponsors of the USA Science & Engineering Festival, AAAS – the world's largest general scientific society – has long been a Festival partner, sharing common goals…
Nikola Tesla -- Electrical and Mechanical Engineer, Inventor One of science's most amazing visionaries of all time, Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla was considered a mathematical phenomenon since childhood, being able as a high school student to perform integral calculus in his head, which initially prompted his teachers to believe that he was cheating! This famous engineer and inventor was known for developing  the alternating-current (AC) electrical system widely used today and the discovery of the rotating magnetic field.  Tesla also proved  that the Earth can be used as an…
By F. Mark Modzelewski World's Largest STEM Event to Excite and Inspire Educators, Administrators, Students & Families The USA Science & Engineering Festival (www.USAScienceFestival.org), supported by presenting host sponsor Lockheed Martin, is pleased to join forces with the U.S. News STEM Solutions (http://usnewsstemsolutions.com/) to host their National Conference April 23-25, 2014 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. The combined Festival and Conference will bring together educators, scientists, performers, business and government leaders -- as well as…
The Northrop Grumman Foundation returns as a major Festival Sponsor, and will be significantly enhancing the Festival's focus on STEM through impressive activities at the Expo -- including exciting new competitions in cyber defense and robotics! "The Northrop Grumman Foundation is committed to helping advance STEM education and sparking interest in young people," says Sandra Evers-Manly, vice president of Global Corporate Responsibility and president of the Northrop Grumman Foundation. "Our mission is to fund educational projects that make a difference in the lives of our country's students…
By Jeff Wilcox, Lockheed Martin Vice President for Engineering   Planning for the third USA Science & Engineering Festival is well underway, and I couldn’t be more excited. As the vice president for engineering at Lockheed Martin, and the father of three sons, I’m proud to be part of a company that serves as the founding and presenting host of this Festival, which will inspire our youngest Americans with the power of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). We have a vested interest in STEM—not just because it’s critical to the future of our company, but because it’s critical to…
This past June, more than  2,000 business, government, and education leaders gathered in Austin, Texas, to discuss the state of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education in the United States at the U.S. News STEM Solutions National Conference. The USA Science & Engineering Festival was honored to attend and we are looking forward to our partnership for the 2014 National Conference this coming April. "This is the absolutely perfect time to be talking about STEM education," explained Barbara Bolin, executive director of the Michigan STEM partnership. "Because STEM…
By  Mark Modzelewski Washington, DC, July 15, 2013 – Science Spark has teamed with Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech) to support the University’s Mind Trekkers traveling science festival as it heads out across America. The Mind Trekkers tour will culminate at the USA Science & Engineering Festival, supported by presenting host sponsor Lockheed Martin. The traveling festival offers children of all ages the opportunity to engage in hands-on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) activities. The first stop will be the National Scout Jamboree, July 15-24, 2013 at the…
By Dr. Ray O. Johnson, Lockheed Martin senior vice president and chief technology officer As the founding and presenting host of the third USA Science & Engineering Festival, Lockheed Martin returns to the 2014 Festival with inspiring, hands-on exhibits designed to drive excitement in our next generation of engineers, scientists, and technical professionals. The Lockheed Martin Experience promises to once again be a premier attraction at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, located in the nation’s capital. We will bring fresh exhibits that provide an innovative engineering and…
ENGINEERING.COM, with its mission to inform, inspire and entertain the world's engineers -- and future engineers -- is returning as a key sponsor of the USA Science & Engineering Festival and Expo in 2014. Widely known for having its fingers directly on the pulse of the fascinating, ever-evolving realm of engineering innovation, ENGINEERING.COM will help expand the scope and reach of Festival excitement, education and inspiration by serving once again as the event's official videographer, which will include capturing the bevy of high-profile activity taking place during Expo finale…
Popular Science, one of the leading sources of news in technology, science, gadgets, space, green tech and more, is returning as a key Americium Media Partner with the Festival! In doing so, Popular Science joins a growing list of other top science media leaders who will be serving as Festival sponsors, including Scientific American, American Scientist, Sigma Xi, ENGINEERING.com, Forbes Wolfe, and PBS Kids, among many others. Popular Science has been a major source of science and technology news since its award-winning magazine was founded back in 1872. Its online version, PopSci.com, was…
Heroes should never be forgotten, but unfortunately too many of them in the field of science go missing from our classroom textbooks. Equally disturbing is that a disproportionate number of these heroes overlooked are women and minorities. While the average American young person will likely have no trouble detailing the latest antics of such stars as Ashton Kutcher, Lindsay Lohan, or Kanye & Kim, most, sadly, would be hard-pressed to tell you who the following trailblazers in science were: -- Molecular biologist Rosiland Franklin, who was responsible for much of the research and discovery…
By USA Science & Engineering Festival Founder Larry Bock In what started out as a hopeful trickle more than four years ago has seemingly evolved into a full-blown trend: Suddenly it's cool and hip to be a scientist in Hollywood. Ranging from such blockbuster films as The Amazing Spiderman, Battleship, The Avengers, and Iron Man 2 to TV hits including House, Fringe, Criminal Minds, and Breaking Bad, an increasing number of Hollywood productions are using real-life scientists as advisors to not only boost the technical accuracy of scripts and video content but to also create more exciting…
Save the date: the USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo is just one year away! We are so excited to bring you the largest celebration of science & engineering for the 3rd time! Leading up to the Expo we will have affiliate events, the return of the Nifty Fifty (x3), contests, and school programs! The Festival week will kick off with the U.S. News STEM Solutions Conference, the launch of  X-STEM Extreme STEM Symposium (Thursday, April 24) and Sneak Peek Friday (April 25)! The free and open to the public finale Expo will be the weekend of April 26-27, 2014! The spotlight on STEM (…
By USA Science & Engineering  Festival Founder Larry Bock "Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." - Carl Sagan The excitement, the rigors and the risk of scientific discovery: Sagan loved and shared these emotions more effectively and openly with us than perhaps any other contemporary scientist. And in the process he helped catapult "science outreach" into the public lexicon. Today more than ever, if we are to inspire the next generation of innovators and better inform the public about science, we, with Sagan-like boldness, need to rethink science outreach, especially…