Renowned publication Scientific American is returning to the Festival as a key Media Sponsor, ready to wow students, teachers and the public with a wide assortment of activities based on content from the magazine as well as other divisions of its parent company, Macmillan Science & Education. Under the theme, ¨Helping Curious Minds Achieve Great Things," Scientific American's exhibit is set to inspire visitors across a broad spectrum, from K-12 learners and teachers to college students to the general science enthusiast. The activities are designed to inspire a lifelong journey of…
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,…
By Jeri Moses, Lockheed Martin Engineer When I tell people I work at Lockheed Martin, they often assume I work in finance or human resources. This is a strange assumption considering more than 50 percent of Lockheed Martin employees are technologists and engineers. But, females are underrepresented in engineering, particularly in computer science. I may be biased, but I think girls that code are cool. According to Girls Who Code, 74 percent of middle school girls express interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and yet this is not translating into higher education…
By Larry Bock  Co-Founder of USA Science Science & Engineering Festival  Engineers are some of the most necessary problem solvers on the planet. They conquer the daunting technological challenges -- both immediate and long-range -- that stand in the way of human progress and quality of life. You don't have to think long and hard to realize what our daily existence would be like without these innovators. Their imprint is everywhere - ranging from the water we drink, the cars we drive (and the roads and bridges on which we travel) to our iPhones and computers, and the programs that…
By Stacy Jannis The Kavli Science in Fiction Video Contest challenges Gr 6-12 students to examine the science in fiction, including science fiction movies, TV shows, and games. Our contest advisors include science educators , scientists, and Hollywood scifi visual effects experts. Follow #SciInSciFi on twitter  for contest updates. Joanne Manaster is a faculty lecturer teaching online biology courses for the Master of Science Teaching-Biology program at the School of Integrative Biology at the University of Illinois, and has taught lab courses in Bioengineering and Cell and Developmental…
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…
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…
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…
New Scientist, the world's most-read science and technology weekly, returns to the Festival as a key Media Partner, once again greatly enhancing our ability to reach out globally to the growing number of ultra-inquisitive Festival fans who just can't get enough insight into science's new and emerging frontiers! Known as the magazine for "people who ask why", New Scientist, with its solid team of writers and experts, brings a comprehensive and inquisitive approach to reporting on a wide array fast-developing and futuristic developments in science and technology --from space, technology and the…
By Barri Gurau, Corporate Energy InitiativesLockheed Martin How long do you think it took for the world’s population to reach 1 billion? It took more than a century for the world’s population to double to 2 billion, which we reached in the 1930s. Since then, the population has grown at an incredible rate to more than seven billion and by 2050, an estimated nine billion people will inhabit the earth. So how do we meet the demand for energy, food and water? The world needs new and different solutions to support the growing population and to continue to drive amazing new technologies. Doing the…
By Stacy Jannis The Kavli Science in Fiction Video Contest challenges Gr 6-12 students to examine the science in fiction, including science fiction movies, TV shows, and games. Our contest advisors include science educators , scientists, and Hollywood scifi visual effects experts. Follow #SciInSciFi on twitter  for contest updates. Jeff Kleiser is president and co-founder of the visual effects studio Synthespian Studios. His pioneering work in computer animation has spanned the history of the medium. He has contributed to films with groundbreaking visual effects including Tron, Stargate, …
By: Nancy Trang  USA Science & Engineering Festival X-STEM Coordinator Snow may have kept many people at home on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014 but not the young aspiring scientists from USA Science & Engineering Festival X-STEM School  Patriot High School (PHS) in Nokesville, Virginia.  The PHS Science National Honor Society (SNHS) organized a free science education event, called Super Science Saturday, for 2nd-7th graders from around the community. The event which took place at the Bull Run Regional Library, was organized by the members of the SNHS to educate kids about science and to…
USA Science & Engineering Festival X-STEM Speaker renowned aviator Barrington Irving sums up his current mission as a role model this way: "Kids want to be challenged, but today too many are bored and uninspired. I want to use aviation to excite and empower a new generation to become scientists, engineers, and explorers." He has a lot to inspire kids about. Born in Jamaica and raised in Miami Florida's inner city, surrounded by crime, poverty, and failing schools, he beat the odds in 2007 when, at the age of 23, he became the youngest person ever (and only African American) to pilot a…
Curious to know what people in STEM fields love about their jobs? Ever wonder what it takes to begin a STEM career? Join the USA Science & Engineering Festival and experts from  Lockheed Martin, Project Lead The Way and Bucknell University on Twitter to discuss their path to a career in STEM. The expert panel includes Festival Inspiration and Co-Founder Larry Bock, Jeff Wilcox, VP of Engineering from Lockheed Martin, Dr. Margot Vigeant, Associate Dean (college of engineering) and Professor of Chemical Engineering from Bucknell University, Dr. Vince Bertram, President and CEO of  PLTW and…
Archibald A. Alexander – Noted Design and Construction Engineer Best known for designing Washington, DC's Tidal Basin Bridge and Whitehurst Freeway; first black graduate of the University of Iowa's College of Engineering; served as territorial governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands Growing up in Iowa during the late 1880s, Archibald "Archie" Alexander remembers being warned that engineering was not something he could expect to succeed in as a black man. But he pushed forward anyway, later graduating in 1912 with a bachelor's degree in engineering from the State University of Iowa (now the…
By Stephanie C. Hill, Lockheed Martin’s Vice President and General Manager of Information Systems & Global Solutions Civil & 2014 Black Engineer of the Year If you want to make a difference in the world – a great place to start is as an engineer or scientist! During my 27 years at Lockheed Martin, I have had the privilege to support programs that are integral to our national security, and I’d like to share some examples of what is possible in a STEM-based career. I worked on systems that provide safe air travel and on a Persistent Surveillance Detection System (PTDS) that was known as…
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…
No doubt, extreme sports – ranging from competitive big-wave surfing and downhill skiing to the rigors of the Ironman Triathlon – represent some of the most challenging, intense and risky undertakings around. Get ready for a behind-the-scenes look this April at how some of the world’s most daring X-athletes use principles of science to achieve their amazing feats that leave us in awe! In an interactive presentation, sports legends from the ZOZI Guru™ team –including Chris Lieto, three-time Ironman Triathlon champion; extreme surfing champion Maya Gabeira and Tao Berman, rated by Sports…