Black History Month

African American scientists and engineers have made extraordinary contributions to STEM and high-tech innovation, and you'll meet some of these key pioneers at the Festival Expo's X-STEM Extreme STEM Symposium hosted by Northrop Grumman Foundation and MedImmune on Thursday, April 24 in Washington! In honor of National African American History Month, the Festival would like to acknowledge these trailblazers and their achievements as they prepare to present at this extraordinary event. The all-day symposium will bring students, teachers and others up close with these and other leading STEM…
Stephanie C. Hill – Computer Software Engineer and Lockheed Martin Executive Vice President and General Manager of Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Solutions Civil line of business; recipient of the Black Engineer of the Year Award for 2014 Looking back recently on her lengthy and high-profile career at Lockheed Martin, engineer and executive Stephanie C. Hill said, "I've worked for Lockheed Martin for 27 years. Most of those years have been in the technological field, and I have never been bored. I have had the opportunity to make a difference in a way that I never imagined…
Ed Dwight, Jr. – Test Pilot, Aerospace Engineer and America's First Black Astronaut Candidate Chosen in 1962 by President Kennedy as America's first black astronaut candidate; due to racism in the astronaut program, he resigned; now is a world-class sculptor, specializing in sculptures depicting aspects of Black History Ed Dwight, Jr. was a 28-year-old Air Force captain at Travis Air Force Base in California when he got a letter from President Kennedy in 1961 urging him to apply to test-pilot school as a prelude to becoming America's first black astronaut. The son of a Negro League baseball…
George Washington Carver – Botanist, Inventor and Educator One of the most phenomenal scientists of the early 20th Century. He found amazing uses for the peanut, sweet potato and soy bean that continue to enrich our lives. And against racial obstacles, his achievements paved the way for generations of young African American scientists The ultimate agricultural botanist and chemist, George Washington Carver, from his early years, was known for his curiosity and his "burning zeal to know everything", especially about nature. He soon became fascinated with how to use botany and other sciences…