At Festival Expo 2016, Discover Why the Department of Defense is a National STEM Leader! [USA Science and Engineering Festival: The Blog]

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 high-profile activities and programs in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) to the USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo weekend celebration, April 16-17 in Washington, DC!

“The DoD is thrilled to be a sponsor of this year’s 2016 USA Science and Engineering Festival in our nation’s capital,” says Karen Saunders, Associate Director, Department of Defense STEM Development Program. “The DoD pavilion at the Festival Expo will cover over 6,500 square feet and feature numerous hands-on activities, interactive stage shows, and plenty of free giveaways.” She adds: “The DoD’s presence at the Festival provides the public a window into the exciting and revolutionary technology produced each day by our STEM workforce. It also allows students, parents, educators and many others the opportunity to interact directly with DoD’s best and brightest scientists and engineers.”

The DoD pavilion will include the following Services and Agencies:

● Air Force
● Army
● Navy
● National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)
● Missile Defense Agency (MDA)
● National Security Agency (NSA)
● Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)
● National Museum of Health and Medicine
● DoD STEM Development Program
● Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight

Booths in the DoD pavilion will also feature a wide range of hands-on activities and plenty of cool giveaways. One of the main attractions will be the first-ever DoD Innovation Lightning Talk Stage, featuring 20+ entertaining presentations about DoD science and technology. Shows will begin roughly every 20 minutes, with topics including:

–“DoD Technology in Movies: Reality vs. Fiction”
–“Your Generation of Robotics”
–“The Militarized Lab Rat”
–“Solving the Enigma”
–And many more

But the excitement will not stop there, says Karen. “The DoD will also provide information on the many opportunities that the Department offers, such as internship and scholarship programs that allow high school and college students to directly apply what they are learning in the classroom, and permit them to get a firsthand view of what it means to be a DoD scientist or engineer. An example of this includes the DoD´s Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) scholarship-for-service program, where college students are paid to go to school and receive a full-time DoD STEM job upon graduation.”

Other notable DoD outreach programs include: the Military Child STEM Program in partnership with the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI); sponsorship of FIRST Robotics teams; and the Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (SEAP).

For more information on these and other programs (including scholarships, internships, summer programs and teacher training), please visit the DoD´s new STEM website, www.DoDSTEM.us.

The Festival sincerely thanks the DoD and other major sponsors and supporters for helping to inspire the next generation of STEM innovators!

Click here to register for the Free USA Science & Engineering Festival.