STEM Education

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.…

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,…

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.  

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…

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.

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.

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

Photo Credit: Focus Features In our recent STEM in the News Blog, read how science is making waves at the 87th Academy Awards, our Youth Advisory Board is working to encourage more girls to pursue computer science, stereotypes need to be shifted and students in middle and high school can attend the ultimate STEM field trip. Click here to read the full blog.

In observance of African American History Month in February, the USA Science & Engineering Festival recognizes the accomplishments of African American pioneers and the important role they have played in paving the way for modern-day African American STEM leaders and innovators including Festival X-STEM and Nifty Fifty Speakers. Read full blog 

By Nifty Fifty Host Carol Bengle Gilbert Very often, even the host can't helped but be inspired by the Nifty Fifty talks. Monday, I listened to Dr. Ellen Stofan, NASA's chief scientist, address middle school students at the Nysmith School for the Gifted in Herndon, Virginia. The school decided to announce the science fair winners in conjunction with our event. (The kids in front of our sign in the photo are a few of the many winners.) This was a fun touch! Her talk brought out many interesting aspects of the work NASA does, but it was a student comment that really got me thinking. Dr. Stofan…

As Dean Kamen, inventor of such amazing technologies as the the Segway human transporter and one of the world's most advanced robotic arm prostheses, often says: "Our nation is enamored with sports and entertainment, but how can we groom kids to become as passionate about innovation?" At the Festival's fascinating all-day X-STEM Symposium, presented by MedImmune next spring, you'll not only meet Dean but also a compendium of other renowned STEM visionaries to explore the passion and excitement of innovation! Prepare to be amazed and inspired as X-STEM Extreme, set for Tuesday, April 28, 2015…