USA Science & Engineering 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…
As the nation’s largest federal employer of scientists and engineers, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has always been at the forefront of innovative and groundbreaking science and technology. DoD scientists and engineers have played a leading role in some of the world’s most advanced and life-changing technological breakthroughs, including the Internet, the Global Positioning System (GPS), virtual reality, voice recognition technology, autonomous vehicles, texting, and cloud computing. Get ready as the DoD -- one of the Festival´s earliest Sponsors -- brings an unforgettable array of…
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.…
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…
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.
This past Tuesday, over 3,500 students, in grades 6-12, traveled to the Washington D.C. Convention Center to engage in presentations and hands-on workshops from some of the most creative and inspiring minds in STEM at the 2nd X-STEM Symposium. Sponsored by MedImmune, the X-STEM Symposium featured over 30 speaker presentations from advanced luminaries in STEM fields such as Dean Kamen, Inventor and Founder of FIRST; Dr. Aprille Ericsson from NASA; Dr. Irwin Jacobs, Founder of Qualcomm to young up and coming innovators like 13 year old Alyssa Carson, AKA the NASA Blueberry and 19 year old…
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.
This is the inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival Podcast, featuring Jordan Green, Ph.D.speaking to students at South River High School in Edgewater, MD. Dr. Green talks about his work creating innovative technologies and therapeutics that can directly benefit human health.   Read full blog and listen to the podcast by clicking here.
Guest Blog by USA Science & Engineering Festival X-STEM Speaker Louie Schwartzberg Albert Einstein remarked, "Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." He knew something that many scientists and engineers overlook in their quest for truth: nature holds the answers we're seeking! We're simply here to learn nature's language and laws and how we can interact with it. Every law of the universe can be witnessed by observing nature. In the west, we like to believe we arrive at facts once they've been scientifically validated. Truthfully, the facts were written…
Why can't we inspire kids to become just as excited about science and engineering as most are about sports and entertainment celebrities? Get ready as MedImmune, the global biopharmaceutical leader which wowed audiences as a major sponsor of the Festival's X-STEM Symposium last year, returns for Festival 2015 this spring to help answer this key question! Read more