Science festival

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…

What if adversity weren’t the enemy? Join blind adventurer Erik Weihenmayer on his quest to harness adversity, redefine expectations, and live a life without barriers. In this session, find out why you don’t need perfect sight to have a powerful vision. https://youtu.be/RtnyXPFlyJk Erik Weihenmayer is one of the most celebrated and accomplished athletes in the world. In 2001, he became the only blind person in history to climb Mount Everest. When he stood on the top of Carstensz Pyramid in 2008, he completed his quest to climb all of the Seven Summits-the tallest peak on each of the seven…

They Might Be Giants will take the stage on Saturday, April 16th at the USA Science & Engineering Festival for two incredible rockin' shows! This amazing alternative and tech-inspired group -- widely known for its theme song for TV's Malcolm in the Middle and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and other works -- will have the attendees at the DC Convention Center rocking out to science all weekend long! And like all performances at the Expo, this stage show is FREE! https://youtu.be/Rm9abSP-YuI A crowd favorite at the 2014 Festival Expo, TMBG wowed audiences with its electrifying pop…

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.…

As a girl growing up in the 1950s in Harlem, X-STEM Speaker Dr. Patricia Bath became fascinated by newspaper accounts of the humanitarian work of Dr. Albert Schweitzer (who treated lepers in Africa). That, coupled with encouragement and motivation from her family doctor and her parents, fueled her desire to become a physician. She would not only go on to fulfill her dream, but make medical history as well. Dr. Bath, a noted ophthalmologist and laser scientist, is especially known for discovering and inventing the revolutionary device and technique for cataract surgery known as the laserphaco…

USA Science & Engineering Festival Speaker, Dr. James West, an Acoustical Scientist from Johns Hopkins University turned his childhood curiosity into a career of invention! Looking back on his childhood days in Prince Edward County, Virginia, acoustical scientist James Edward West, says curiosity ruled his life. "If I had a screwdriver and a pair of pliers, anything that could be opened was in danger," remembers James with a laugh. That curiosity soon evolved into a keen interest in the mysteries of electricity, he says. "I became fascinated by electricity, just completely fascinated. I…

By USA Science & Engineering Festival Founder Larry Bock Edison´s contribution to those wondrous beacons of the holiday season is a poignant one. On a wintry night during the Christmas season of 1880 -- just weeks after introducing his revolutionary invention of the first practical incandescent light -- Edison, in a bold move to promote his new technology, wowed thousands of people in front of his Menlo Park lab with a live outdoor display of dozens of incandescent lamps strung together, creating the very first strand of electric lights. Two years later, Edison´s friend and associate,…

Thank you to all of those who have served and continue to serve our great country. As always, we are extending a warm welcome to military families on Sneak Peek Friday. Register here to attend the Festival before the general public. Welcome back all of our participating military sponsors and exhibitors. We are proud to partner with you again at the Expo Finale! For a list of restaurants offering free meals to veterans, visit this link.  Happy Veteran's Day!

After an unforgettable 2014 Expo with over 2000 visitors stopping by their booth, Science Buddies is proud to return to the USA Science & Engineering Festival in 2016 as a media partner. Science Buddies recognizes USASEF’s commitment to improving the lives of all students through STEM learning and is excited to once again help inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. Science Buddies empowers K-12 students, teachers, and parents to quickly and easily find thousands of FREE project ideas and resources in all areas of science, from astronomy to zoology. Science Buddies helps…

Show us how you celebrate Halloween using STEM! Carve science themed pumpkins, create gooey spooky experiments or dress up as your favorite Mad Scientist! Have fun with your STEMtastic creations! How do you enter? It's easy! From now until Halloween night, just post pictures of your activity or creation onTwitter, Instagram and/or on our Facebook wall and use #ScifestBoo!  (Be sure to tag us) Contest is open to groups and individuals (ages 5-18). Note: Parents and teachers can post on behalf of children.  

By High School Student Connor Smith, who is attending Cornell next year and studying chemistry. The two speakers I enjoyed most at the 2015 X-STEM conference were Andrew Zwicker, a physicist from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, and William Pomerantz, the Vice President of Special Projects at Virgin Galactic. Dr. Zwicker talked primarily about his work on fusion reactors using high energy plasma, and the need for the development of clean energy technology. Read more 

This Nifty Fifty Podcast features, Dr. Loren Anderson, physicist from West Virginia University,  speaking to Tuscarora High School about the Milky Way Galaxy, astronomy, massive stars, and his career path to becoming a physics professor. Read the full blog here.

This Nifty Fifty Podcast features, Dr. Tristan Hübsch, Physicist and Mathematician from Howard University,  speaking to Immanuel Christian School about the “Theory of Everything” and how he got interested in Physics from a very early age. Read the full blog here.

Innovation & Tech Today is a proud media partner of the USA Science & Engineering Festival. Committed to celebrating innovation and investing in our future, the USA Science & Engineering Festival perfectly complements the mission of I&T Today. In addition to covering the Festival in Washington D.C. in 2016, I&T Today is increasing STEM coverage in their new extended education section. Click here to read "The Latest Developments in STEMtech" featuring speakers from the USA Science & Engineering Festival's upcoming X-STEM Symposium! Read full blog here.

This Nifty Fifty Podcast features Dr. Matthew Hartings speaking to Holy Cross School in Garret Park, Maryland.  Dr. Hartings the professor behind "The Chemistry of Cooking," a wildely popular course at American University, where Dr. Hartings is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry.  Read full blog here.   

In just one year, you can attend the largest celebration of STEM for FREE! On April 16-17, 2016, the 4th USA Science & Engineering Festival returns to the nation's capital along with some of your favorite performers and hands-on exhibits! Next April, Sneak Peek Friday, open to schools, homeschoolers and military families, returns on April 15th and the 2016 X-STEM Symposium kicks off the celebration on April 14th! Read more here.

This Nifty Fifty Podcast features Dr. Len Annetta speaking about how his background growing up poor and how he’s now creating the next generation of creative science and technology leaders through serious games.  Dr. Annetta is speaking to Center City Public Charter School in Washington, D.C.  Read full blog here.   

This Nifty Fifty Podcast features Dr. Frederic Bertley speaking to high school children about the availability of STEM jobs, how much science affects our lives, the promising future of transportation, drinking water, medicine, and genomic science, and some of the living scientists making an impact on our work.   Listen to the podcast and read the full blog here.

Why is InfoComm International, the leading trade association for the audiovisual technology industry, returning this year as the sponsor of the Festival's prominent Nifty Fifty school visit program? The primary reason, says InfoComm executive Betsy Jaffe, is Nifty Fifty's powerful potential to transform students' attitude and performance in STEM. Which is why, she reports, InfoComm's involvement will be even more exciting and student-focused in 2015! Read full blog here.