USA Science and Engineering Festival


The USA Science & Engineering Festival is a free science festival held in Washington, D.C.. The festival is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines in the United States. Serial Entrepreneur Larry Bock and senior directors of the Lockheed Martin Corporation founded the festival.
The inaugural event was held from October 10, 2010, through October 24, 2010, the second festival was April 27–29, 2012, and the third festival was April 24–27, 2014. The third festival featured the first X-STEM Symposium on April 24, 2014, with interactive presentations and workshops. The fourth festival was held on April 16–17, 2016. The fifth festival was held on April 7–8, 2018. Celebrating a decade of STEM, the sixth festival will return on April 25–26, 2020. The theme for the upcoming event is "the Vision for STEM".
The second X-STEM Symposium was held as a stand-alone event on April 2015 and continues on an annual basis. X-STEM features interactive presentations by an exclusive group of visionaries aimed to inspire kids to pursue careers in STEM. X-STEM is open to students in grades 6-12. The next event took place on March 19, 2019, in Washington, DC. The Festival organizers are seeking to make X-STEM a national program with events across the country.

Mission

The stated mission of the USA Science & Engineering Festival is to stimulate and sustain the interest of our nation’s youth in science, technology, engineering and math by producing and presenting the most compelling, exciting, and educational Festival in the world. The USA Science & Engineering Festival serves as an open forum to showcase all facets of STEM."

Festivals by year

2010 Festival

The 2010 festival lasted for two weeks and culminated with an October 23–24 Expo on the National Mall. The Expo featured interactive hands-on science activities presented by over 550 U.S. science and engineering organizations. 125 universities/research institutes, 125 professional science societies, 50 government agencies, 30 high tech and life science companies and 150 informal science outreach organizations participated in the festival. Participants included the National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Physical Society, American Chemical Society, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Association for Women in Science, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, National Society of Black Engineers, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Georgetown University, University of California, San Diego, University of California, Berkeley, Johns Hopkins University, United States Naval Academy, Duke University, University of Maryland, J. Craig Venter Institute, Carnegie Institution for Science, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Office of Naval Research, U.S. Department of Energy, Air Force Research Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Lockheed Martin, Agilent Technologies, Google, Baxter International, ResMed, Hitachi, Smithsonian Institution, American Museum of Natural History, United States Botanic Garden, Marian Koshland Science Museum, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, Girls, Inc., Girl Scouts of the United States of America and Boy Scouts of America.

Nifty Fifty

The Nifty Fifty program was a group of fifty nominated professionals in various areas of science and engineering who interacted and spoke about their work and careers to middle and high school students across Washington, D.C., in the fall of 2010. Speakers' backgrounds were varied and spanned chemistry, biotechnology, engineering, math, computer science, medicine, green technology, nanotechnology, business, physics, astronomy, and energy.

Lunch With a Laureate

The "Lunch with a Laureate" program was focused on a small group of middle and high school students across the greater Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, and Maryland areas. The purpose of the program was to engage students in informal conversations with a Nobel Prize–winning scientist over a brown-bag lunch. The twelve laureates that participated in this program were Leon M. Lederman, John C. Mather, William Daniel Phillips, Robert H. Grubbs, Alan J. Heeger, Dudley R. Herschbach, Phillip A. Sharp, Kary B. Mullis, Kurt Wuthrich, Douglas D. Osheroff, Baruch Samuel Blumberg and Sir Harry Kroto.

Expo

The two-week festival ended with a two-day expo on the National Mall that featured over 500 U.S. science organizations. The list of exhibitors included universities, colleges, high school science clubs, student organizations, research institutes, informal science outreach organizations, community organizations, professional science & engineering societies, life science and high tech companies, and other types of science organizations. About 500,000 people reportedly attended the event.
The second expo took place in Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., on April 27–29, 2012. The third expo took place in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on April 26–27, 2014.

Satellite festivals

Satellite festivals were being planned in 2010 at a number of locations throughout the United States, including: Arizona: Tucson; California: Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, Santa Ana; Florida: Gainesville, Jacksonville, Ruskin, West Palm Beach; Idaho: Pocatello; Illinois: Chicago, DeKalb; Maryland: Middle River, Rockville; New Jersey: Clifton; New York: New York City, Rochester; North Carolina: Chapel Hill ; Ohio: Cleveland, Columbus; Texas: Austin, Dallas, San Antonio; Virginia: Fairfax, Falls Church, Hampton, Reston; Washington: Vancouver. Michigan Tech's Mind Trekkers is also a traveling component of the USA Science & Engineering Festival.

Government support

The festival had a bipartisan Honorary Congressional Host Committee of over 100 members. House Resolution 1660 and Senate Resolution 656 were unanimously approved in support of the goals of the USA Science & Engineering Festival.
The White House scheduled its inaugural science fair to coincide with the inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival. President Obama referenced the importance of this Festival in his keynote address at the White House Science Fair.
President Obama created a dedicated public service announcement inviting the general public to the USA Science & Engineering Festival.
Over 50 major government officials attended or participated directly in the USA Science and Engineering Festival including: Chief Science Advisor John Holdren, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, Head of R&D for Department of Defense Zachary Lemnios, Head of R&D for Office of Naval Research Michael Kassner talks about ONR's involvement with the USA Science and Engineering Festival, Head of R&D for the National Park Service Gary Machlis was involved with the festival's Nifty Fifty program, Head of R&D for EPA Paul Anastas was involved with both the Nifty Fifty program and the kick off of the festival, William Brinkman of the Department of Energy and NIH Director Francis Collins was a Nifty Fifty speaker as well as he performed his own songs at the festival's expo.

Science celebrities' support for the festival

Many science celebrities participated in the inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival, including Bill Nye the Science Guy; Jamie Hyneman, Adam Savage, and Kari Byron from the television show Mythbusters; Sid the Science Kid; cast members of NCIS; and Ernő Rubik.

2012 Festival

The 2012 USA Science & Engineering Festival was at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on April 28–29, 2012, and Sneak Peek Friday was April 27, 2012. The 2nd USA Science & Engineering Festival hosted programs leading up to the festival, including Nifty Fifty, Lunch with a Laureate, Satellite Events, Sneak Peek Friday and more.

Attendees of the 2012 Festival

Including attendees, exhibitors, volunteers and staff over 200,000 people actively participating in this momentous Festival celebration over the three-day period. The DC Convention Center has reported that the 2nd USA Science & Engineering Festival is the second most attended event in the history of the Center! Sneak Peek Friday more than doubled in size based on the number of students who had pre-registered, and included nearly 28,000 students, teachers, military families, government officials and press.
Another 300,000 individuals celebrated science and engineering at 90+ Satellite Events and Affiliate Festivals across the country and beyond. The festival spirit reached as far as Wroclaw, Poland, where 13 universities and high schools created the Lower Silesian Science Festival, anchored to the USA Science & Engineering Festival. In addition, over 50,000 people participated in the Nifty Fifty and other pre-Expo events. And another 5,000 participated in events surrounding the Expo such as the Stargazing Party, Science Comedy Night and the Featured Author Evening.
The festival was attended by key White House officials such as Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement; President Obama’s daughters, Sasha and Malia, attended a Nifty Fifty presentation; senior leaders from other countries attended, including Prince Mohammed from Saudi Arabia.

Festival highlights

The festival hosted approximately 3,000 hands-on activities from over 550 participating organizations. Over 800 schools participated in the festival and transportation grants were issued to under deserved schools in the Greater DC is to bring students to the festival. Attendees enjoyed 150 live performances by science celebrities, explorers, best-selling authors, entrepreneurs, and experts. The Nifty Fifty Program doubled and over 100 of the top scientists and engineers in the country were selected to speak at schools in the Greater DC area in the month leading up to the festival.

Science celebrities

Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, of Discovery Channel's MythBusters performed at the 2012 Festival. Science celebrities included Bill Nye the Science Guy, Mayim Bialik, Apollo Robbins, Sid the Science Kid, Samantha Yammine, cast members of NCIS Los Angeles, U.S. Olympic Speed Skaters and more. Elon Musk, Richard Garriott and George T. Whitesides were on hand to host a panel discussion. Other celebrities included NASA astronauts, authors, scientists and engineers.

2014 Festival

The 3rd USA Science & Engineering Festival, the largest science festival in the United States, featured nationwide contests and school programs during the 2013/2014 school year, including the popular "Nifty Fifty" science speaker program. The festival culminated in a two-day Grand Finale Expo on April 26–27, 2014, with Sneak Peek Friday on April 25, and the U.S. News STEM Solutions Conference on April 23–25. The new X-STEM Symposium- presented by Northrop Grumman Foundation - an Extreme STEM Symposium was conducted for middle and high school students on April 24.

Attendees of the 2014 Festival

The festival took over the entire Walter E. Washington Convention Center, utilizing over 2.3 million square feet of space. Based on estimated numbers from the Convention Center, more than 325,000 people attended over the 4 days. Exhibitors stated that roughly 11,000 visitors stopped by their booth over the course of the three-day Expo. Attendees from all 50 states in the U.S. and international attendees from over 20 different countries visited the festival. Sneak Peek Friday included 40,000+ students, teachers, military families, government officials and press – a 30% increase from 2012. Sneak Peek Friday attendees included students from 38 states – and three countries. More than 4,000 students and teachers from area and underserved schools, homeschoolers, and military families attended the inaugural X-STEM Symposium.
Another 300,000 individuals celebrated science & engineering at 200+ Satellite Events and Affiliate Festivals across the country and beyond. In addition, over 180,000 people participated in the Nifty Fifty and other pre-Expo events.
To bring a new STEM decision maker audience to the festival, the festival hosted over 20 other major STEM Professional Events at the Convention Center at the same time as this event, including the U.S. News STEM Solutions Conference and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency P3 college student competition. More than 400 new organizations that had never participated before with big increases in the areas of Advanced Manufacturing, Robotics, Skilled Trades Professionals, STEAM and DIYers/Makers, and overall doubled the number of participating exhibitors from 2012.

Highlights

The 4th USA Science & Engineering Festival culminated in a two–day Grand Finale Expo on April 16–17, 2016 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. Over 1,000 leading STEM organizations presented hands-on science and engineering activities. Sneak Peek Friday took place on April 15, 2016.
The X-STEM Symposium was held as a stand-alone event on April 14, 2016, and featured presentations and workshops by leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

2018 Festival

The was presented by Lockheed Martin on April 7–8, 2018 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. Over 1,000 leading STEM organizations presented hands-on science and engineering activities. Sneak Peek Friday took place on April 6, 2018, and the first STEM Career Fair took place on Friday night. Rising marine biologist and television host served as the first-ever Festival spokesperson. Sponsors of the event included Chevron, Stanley Black & Decker, Honda, SeaWorld, NCR Foundation, Deloitte, EY and hundreds more. Government support included the DoD, NASA, USDA, NSF, NIH, the State Department and more.
The X-STEM Symposium was held as a stand-alone event on April 5, 2018, and featured presentations and workshops by leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. X-STEM was sponsored by NCR, NBC4 and PWC.
Highlights
The upcoming 6th USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo will take place on April 25–26, 2020 in Washington, DC. The theme for the Expo is "Vision for STEM" as we celebrate a decade of the Festival! The Vision for STEM theme encourages Expo sponsors and exhibitors to see today’s students as tomorrow’s explorers, discoverers, and innovators as we focus on the future of workforce development and STEM education.