carlyo | March 26, 2013Celebrating Women's History Month with another STEM Role Model!
Often rated among the top 10 forensic science experts today. Became internationally known for her work with the United Nations in conducting forensic investigations of mass grave genocide killings in Rwanda and the Balkans -- and through such scientific evidence, helped bring perpetrators of such killings to justice, including former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes
Read all about the important work of one of the top 10 Forensic Scientists Clea Koff here
carlyo | March 21, 2013The USA Science & Engineering Festival is thrilled to introduce our elite group of X-STEM and Nifty Fifty Speakers for the 3rd Festival! In today's blog we feature Physicist and former NASA Astronaut Dr. Kathryn Thornton!
We are excited to announce that Dr. Kathryn Thornton will serve as both an X-STEM and Nifty Fifty Speaker for the Festival! Selected in 1984 by NASA as an astronaut candidate, Kathryn Thornton would go on to serve 12 notable years with NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston -- a career which would see her become the second American woman to walk in space, in addition to…
carlyo | March 18, 2013Celebrating Women's History Month with another STEM Role Model!
Read the biography of Nifty Fifty Speaker & NerdGirls Founder Dr. Karen Panetta and how YOUR SCHOOL can host a Nifty Fifty Speaker here
carlyo | March 15, 2013Celebrating Women's History Month with another STEM Role Model!
To read the fascinating biography of Hedy Lamarr and all of our STEM role models click here
carlyo | March 14, 2013Celebrating Women's History Month with another STEM Role Model!
Dr. Penelope Boston, geologist-microbiologist from the National Cave and Karst Research Institute, loves exploring caves where she finds a "virtual treasure trove of scientific information!"
Click here to read Dr. Boston's full biography and find out how you can host one of our Nifty Fifty Speakers at your school or nominate an inspiring STEM role model to be considered as part of this elite group
carlyo | March 13, 2013Guest Blog by Festival Nifty Fifty Speaker Joe Schwarcz PhD
Unfortunately chemistry is a mystery to many. And that suits the hucksters just fine. It sets the stage for cashing in on chemical ignorance by bamboozling people with scientific sounding balderdash. Ignorance, though, is not total. There is one molecular formula that people do tend to recognize and that is, good old H2O. Then if you press them to name an important chemical in the body, chances are they will come up with DNA. And they are likely to have some sort of mental picture of the double helix structure of DNA, since…
carlyo | March 12, 2013By 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…
carlyo | March 11, 2013Celebrating Women's History Month with another Role Model in STEM!
Combining her skills in math, science and the arts, Italian Architect Gae Aulenti has become known as a leading figure of contemporary architecture.
To read her full biography and all of our STEM profiles click here
carlyo | March 7, 2013Celebrating Women's History Month with another Role Model in Science & Engineering!
Sylvia Earle, a leading Oceanographer and Environmentalist conducts pioneering research in marine ecosystems; named a "Hero for the Planet" by Time magazine.
To read the fascinating biography of Sylvia Earle click here
carlyo | March 6, 2013March is Women's History Month and the theme this year is "Women Inspiring Innovation Through Imagination: Celebrating Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics".
We celebrate Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics year round at the USA Science & Engineering Festival so of course we are thrilled with the choice of theme this year. All month long we will continue to honor Role Models in Science & Engineering Achievement; however we will turn our focus to women in STEM. The scientists and engineers selected for this series have been chosen because they are…
carlyo | March 5, 2013By Festival Founder Larry Bock
It's strange but true: some of the most prodigious innovations in technology are often not born in the corridors of rational thought and reality, but on the wings of fantasy.
I was reminded of this recently while reading the various tributes to legendary science fiction writer Ray Bradbury who died last year at age 91. Bradbury, whose best-known works include The Martian Chronicles, and Fahrenheit 451, was a master at using his imagination to bring us face-to-face with our growing love affair, fascination -- and, at times, wariness -- of technology and the price…
carlyo | March 1, 2013Celebrating Black History Month with another Role Model in Science & Engineering!
"Born to be a mathematician and physicist" we are thrilled that Dr. Sylvester James Gates returns to the Festival as a Nifty Fifty Speaker. Growing up, his father brought him an Encyclopedia Britannica and he came across Schroedinger's equation, which is one of the foundations of modern physics. Gates claimed, "It was like walking on a beach and finding a marvelous shell and being fascinated by it."
To read the full biography of Dr. Gates click here.
carlyo | February 27, 2013Celebrating Black History Month with another Role Model in Science & Engineering!
Festival Nifty Fifty Speaker & Physicist Dr. Herman White smashes atoms for a living and he loves it! We are honored to have Dr. White as a key speaker for the Festival! To read the full biography of this distinguished scientist click here.
carlyo | February 22, 2013Celebrating Black History Month with another Role Model in Science & Engineering!
The story of George Washington Carver is fascinating! This Botanist and Inventor possessed a "burning zeal to know everything" about nature from an early age. He used botany and other sciences to create products that would benefit the economic and agricultural productivity of poor black farmers. Read more about George Washington Carver including why Gandhi sought his expertise here.
carlyo | February 14, 2013Celebrating Black History Month with another Role Model in Science and Engineering:
Marie M. Daly was a Chemist and the first African American woman to receive a Ph.D. in Chemistry in the U.S. She became known for her groundbreaking work investigating how diet, cigarettes and other factors affect the heart and the circulatory system. Her research has saved countless lives! What prominent woman chemist at Columbia University in 1944 played a key role in Marie Daly's admission to that institution to obtain a Ph.D.? Read her full biography here.
carlyo | February 12, 2013TONIGHT- special guests of the First Lady at the State of the Union include USA Science & Engineering Festival X-STEM speaker Bobak Ferdowsi and Nifty Fifty Speaker Jack Andraka!
Bobak Ferdowsi- referred to as NASA's "Mohawk Guy" is a flight director at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In addition to his inspiring day-to-day work on the Mars Curiosity mission, he volunteers as a FIRST robotics mentor to get more boys and girls excited about STEM education. We are thrilled for Bobak to participate in our Extreme STEM Symposium! Read his full biography here.
Jack Andraka- 15 Year-Old…
carlyo | February 4, 2013
In today's blog USA Science & Engineering Festival Fan Dr. Jessica Carilli offers a little advice to those that are pursuing graduate school.
Blog post from "Jessica's Blog of Bad Advice"
Go To Graduate School by Dr. Jessica Carilli
This could be the worst piece of advice you will get from this blog, because there is ample evidence these days that obtaining a graduate degree won’t get you a job (or not the kind you thought).
But I’m going to take the opposite tack, and tell you why attending grad school is not the worst idea you’ve ever had.
In 2003, I graduated with my BS in…
carlyo | January 30, 2013Are you a talented artist that loves science? The USA Science & Engineering Festival is looking for a Mascot and we need YOUR help to design the new face of the largest celebration of science and engineering!
We are looking for a mascot design that captures the spirit of the USA Science & Engineering Festival! The mascot will transcend our love of all things STEM and will be something or someone that will excite others about our mission! Our mission is to re-invigorate the interest of our nation's youth in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by producing and presenting…
carlyo | January 28, 2013
50,000 Fans and Counting!
We are so excited to share the news that the USA Science & Engineering Festival Facebook page now has over 50,000 fans! Facebook serves as a wonderful medium for us to reach a population of STEM enthusiasts! Facebook is a platform for us to connect with our fans using humor and intellect to spread the word about the Festival! Our mission is to re-invigorate the interest of STEM in our nation and we are seeing an amazing response to our quickly growing social media sites. The positive feedback we receive from our STEM posts, photos, tweets and news stories …
carlyo | January 26, 2013--Through her studies of air, water and food quality in the Industrial Age, she introduced the word "ecology" to the U.S. lexicon as early as 1892
--First woman admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and first American woman to earn a degree in chemistry
Ellen Swallow Richards (1842-1911), who introduced the word ecology in the United States in 1892, was an early and far-seeing exponent of that science. She was also the first woman student—and later professor—at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the first American to earn a degree in chemistry. Raised…