science fair

Over the span of the Festival weekend (April 15-17), 365,000 people attended the FREE USA Science & Engineering Festival!  Our mission is to stimulate and sustain the interest of our nation’s youth in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by producing and presenting the most compelling, exciting, and educational Festival in the world. Once again, the largest celebration of STEM was a great success thanks to the Festival's amazing sponsors, exhibitors, volunteers, and performers! https://youtu.be/nH4yr-4yZPg Attendees had the opportunity to experience over 3,000 hands-on STEM…
Parents don’t need a science degree to shape their child’s learning or to explore STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). There’s a little science and engineering behind everything we see each day. From day trips to talks around the dinner table, there are lots of easy and fun ways to spark a love of STEM. Your next conversation or outing could inspire the future engineer inside your child! The Chevron STEM Zone — where students, teachers, and parents learn about how STEM solves real-life challenges — is a great place to continue the conversation. Techbridge, which has inspired…
Nose picking is encouraged at the USA Science & Engineering Festival booth of AstraZeneca, and its biologics research and development arm, MedImmune. Visitors to the booth can “pick” a giant nose and learn how flu pandemics start. It's this type of hands-on science experience that inspires kids to pursue a STEM career. AstraZeneca and MedImmune feel strongly that they can have the greatest community impact where they have the greatest expertise. As a leading biopharmaceutical company, they have chosen to invest significantly in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.…
Nearly 800 volunteers and exhibitors brought the Lockheed Martin 2014 USA Science & Engineering Festival pavilion to life last April 25-27, including more than 40 hands-on demonstrations from across the corporation in the areas of nanotechnology, data analytics, robotics, energy, advanced aeronautics, and scientific discovery. A photo album is available online here, where you will see participants, young and old, flying cockpit simulators, trying on Antarctica cold weather gear, building and flying gliders, learning about 3D printing, and enjoying the many others activities in our…
The USA Science & Engineering Festival is proud to announce the return of Lockheed Martin as its 2016 Founding and Presenting Host and expanded outreach activities to engage our nation's youth in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). "The USA Science & Engineering Festival provides an essential introduction and gateway to the exciting world of STEM," said Dr. Ray O. Johnson, Lockheed Martin senior vice president and chief technology officer. "It's an exhilarating event not only for the students, but also for the parents, teachers, and professionals like me to get hands-on…
On April 24, 2014, an exclusive group of visionaries presented to over 4,000 students at the USA Science & Engineering Festival's inaugural X-STEM Symposium sponsored by Northrop Grumman Foundation and MedImmune. The all day event included interactive presentations and workshops with some of the top scientists and engineers in the country. In the presentation below, renowned oceanographer Dr. David Gallo dives into the unknown world deep under the sea to discuss ocean exploration, unexplored creatures and territory and the technology required to make it happen at the X-STEM Symposium.…
Guest Blog by Festival X-STEM Speaker Dr. Joe Schwarcz How do you inspire students toward careers in science, and combat scientific illiteracy at the same time? First, you spend two years planning the USA Science & Engineering Festival, the largest of its kind in the world. Then you rent the gigantic Washington Convention Center to host it and line up 3,000 displays, many of which feature hands-on activities. You organize more than 150 stage presentations by Nobel laureates, athletes, astronauts, engineers and scientists of all kinds. You invite the likes of Bill Nye the Science Guy,…
Under the theme of "Start Your Journey," Caterpillar, as a major Festival sponsor and leader in STEM and skilled trades, is set to wow audiences at the Expo this month with a dynamic array of interactive exhibits and presentations designed to demonstrate the breadth of opportunities that exist at Caterpillar and Cat Dealerships around the country in STEM-related frontiers and career paths. Says Gwenne Henricks, Caterpillar's Vice President of Product Development & Global Technology & Chief Technology Officer: "We want attendees to leave with the impression that Caterpillar is an…
Guest Blog by Dr. Catherine MohrSenior Director of Medical Research, Intuitive SurgicalUSA Science & Engineering Festival X-STEM Speaker I work on surgical robots - at the intersection of cool, high tech, and helping people get well. One of the things I like most is that my job changes every day as I look for new technologies that might help us improve patient outcomes.  For example, one day we may play with new kinds of lasers for cutting bone, the next we are looking for new less invasive ways of accessing the body to do more effective surgeries, and the next we are looking out 10 to 15…
  Many people know Walmart as the largest corporate retailer in the world, but did you also realize it is a leading innovator and employer in STEM? At Festival Expo 2014, you'll discover in unforgettable ways this other side of Walmart, which this year is serving as an Americum-level Sponsor of the Festival! Walmart's imprint on STEM is significant worldwide, and is especially noted for: developing ways to make its foods more healthful by reducing sodium, sugar and fat; designing high-tech fleet trucks; working with farmers to produce better crop yields; creating energy-efficient retail…
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 the Festival next week, but will also call attention to the impressive cadre of young talent that is on…
Guest Blog By Festival X-STEM Speaker and Expo Performer  Dr. Joe Schwarcz “Hey, aren’t you somebody?” the teenager queried as I got into the elevator. While I was pondering an appropriate answer to this deeply philosophical question, his crony spilled the beans: "Yeah, he's that guy who talks about chemistry on TV." This was just the ammunition the philosopher needed. "Oh no, we're locked in an elevator with a scientist" he mocked, before volunteering the information that he got about 2% in chemistry in high school, and "that was with cheating." Sadly, I've heard such comments before. After…
The National Science Foundation returns to sponsor the USA Science & Engineering Festival and will showcase an incredible group of exhibits at the NSF and Friends Pavilion! Visit the National Science Foundation's exhibit area to explore tsunami waves, mind control, robots, spiders, cranberry acids, crazy physics experiments and more! Stage performances, a wearable tech fashion show and interactive activities will entertain and engage visitors of all ages. Listed below is a sampling of the fun and excitement you can expect at the NSF & Friends Pavilion:     Wild Lives in Your Own Back…
By Shawn Flaherty  Michio Kaku, theoretical physicist and author of New York Times’ list topping “The Future of the Mind,” is one of 31 best-selling science-related and children’s book authors (and characters) who will be signing books during the USA Science & Engineering Festival’s Book Fair, hosted by Anderson’s Bookshops.   The Book Fair is part of the 3rd USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo, hosted by founding and presenting sponsor Lockheed Martin, taking place April 26 and 27 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in D.C. from 9am to 6pm daily.  Designed to inspire…
You've heard the saying: Science is truly all around us. Get ready to discover how accurate this maxim really is as Science Buddies, an award-winning, non-profit resource in STEM for students, joins the USA Science & Engineering Festival as a major sponsor. Moreover, don't miss Science Buddies' exciting, hands-on exhibits for kids at the Festival Expo, which include delving into the physics of catapult launching and how to build your own robot "bugs" that follow light! It's a natural fit for us at Science Buddies to join with the Festival in sharing projects that encourage kids to keep…
By Travis Earles, Lockheed Martin Senior Manager, Advanced Material and Nanotechnology Initiatives “Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were.” -Carl Sagan, famed astronomer, astrophysicist and cosmologist   Imagine a world where we have the ability to understand and control matter at the nanoscale, where unique phenomena enable novel applications. A world where novel materials enable entirely new approaches to design and production that is faster and better than ever before. The nanotechnology exhibits at the upcoming USA Science & Engineering Festival will provide a…
When it comes to wowing young learners with a wide array of exciting hands-on experiences in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), the Chevron STEM Zone exhibit ranks among the nation's best! Get ready when the "STEM Zone" lives up to its reputation during its debut at the Festival Expo in April, bringing to visitors a smorgasbord of dynamic, interactive science demonstrations in one 3600 square-foot location. Chevron, which joins the Festival this year as a major sponsor, has used its STEM Zone with great success as a popular science outreach extravaganza throughout the…
By Larry Bock  Co-Founder of USA Science Science & Engineering Festival  No doubt, the influences that move individuals into their chosen field of science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) are often as different as night and day, but one thing seems constant: most STEM professionals, in remembering how they made their selection, can trace that ¨A-ha!¨ moment back to a pivotal experience in their lives that connected them on an emotional level for the first time with their chosen line of work. That moment for scientist James E. West, inventor of the foil electret microphone,…
STEMconnector®, "the one-stop shop for who's doing what in science, technology, engineering and math", has joined the Festival's growing cadre of Sponsors, bringing to the event a proven ability to keep professionals, students and the public abreast of STEM news and updates across a broad spectrum. "STEMconnector® is proud to be a partner for the USA Science Festival as we support and endorse the largest gathering in the world celebrating science and engineering," says Edie Fraser, CEO of STEMconnector. "We couldn't be happier than to see young people interested in STEM and believe in the…
By Shawn Flaherty What is the universe made of? What does science have to do with extreme sports? And how would you survive a zombie invasion? The answers to these questions and more are at the 3rd USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo and Book Fair, hosted by founding and presenting sponsor Lockheed Martin. Designed to inspire the next generation of innovators, the Festival Expo is a free, family-friendly expo that allows kids and adults to participate in more than 3,000 hands-on activities and see more than 100 live stage performances. “Science is amazing…that’s our message to kids…