THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012
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USASCIENCEFESTIVAL.ORG DON’T mISS ThE LARGEST CELEbRATION OF SCIENCE IN ThE USA … ThOUSANDS OF hANDS-ON, SCIENCE-ThEmED ACTIVITIES AND pERFORmANCES.
Expo at WaltEr E. Washington ConvEntion CEntEr, Washington, DC – april 28-29, 2012 aBoUt this sECtion: This special advertising section was produced by The Washington Post Custom Content Department and did not involve The Washington Post news or editorial staff. The content was developed by William H. Woodwell, Jr. (www.whwoodwell.com), an independent writer and editor, in cooperation with the USA Science & Engineering Festival. For morE inFormation, plEasE ContaCt: Marc H. Rosenberg, Manager, Corporate and Public Policy advertising, at 202-334-7634. hoW arE WE Doing? For questions, comments and suggestions regarding this section, please send an email to customcontent@washpost.com.
Festival Aims to Get Students Excited About Science, Engineering It is billed as “the largest celebration of science in the USA,” and it’s coming to Washington, D.C., on the weekend of April 28 and 29. The Finale Expo of the second USA Science & Engineering Festival, hosted by Lockheed Martin, will feature more than 3,000 fun, interactive exhibits, 100 stage shows, and a book fair including 40 best-selling science authors. It’s all free, and it’s all designed to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers so they can help the USA blast off to a successful future.
CElEBratE sCiEnCE! see pages 4-5 of this special section for an event schedule and map of USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo events.
Meet the Mythbusters, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman. Learn more about what the universe is made of, why the dinosaurs went extinct, and what fossils tell us about the Earth’s secrets. Learn how the stars of hit TV shows like The Big Bang Theory use science in their jobs and their daily lives. Find out how to do safe, fun science experiments at home. Learn about the latest breakthroughs in medicine, robotics, space travel and more. Talk to NASA engineers and space explorers about their experiences reaching for the stars. These are just a few of the things that young people and their families will be able to do at the Festival Expo at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The 2012 events build on the success of the inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival, which drew more than 650,000 people to the National Mall and other D.C. locations in October 2010. “We had so much fun in 2010 that we’re doing it again, and this time it’s bigger and better than before,” said Larry Bock, founder and executive director of the USA Science & Engineering Festival. “We want to give as many young people as possible a chance to get excited about science and engineering, and to see for themselves how much fun it can be to make science a part of your life and career.”
Key Expo Events and activities Bock said the Festival Expo and Book Fair are designed for teens, children and their families, as well as “anyone who is looking for a weekend of fun and discovery.” Key events and activities include: Exhibits. Thousands of hands-on exhibits will give future scientists and engineers the experience of a lifetime. All exhibits (see sample list, right) will provide an opportunity to meet and talk with real-life scientists and engineers who are working to answer some of the most important questions of our time in areas from human health and the environment to astronomy. Book Fair. The first-ever USA Science & Engineering Festival Book Fair will include presentations and demonstrations with more than 40 best-selling authors. Among the featured authors are Joel Achenbach, who chronicles the success and failures of the BP oil disaster and how engineers worked to find a solution; Dr. Lisa Randall, the world’s leading particle physicist who is researching the “God Particle”; Homer Hickam, who wrote October Sky and the new bestseller, Crater, a futuristic story about mining on the moon; and Bruce Degan, illustrator of numerous award-winning children’s books, including The Magic School Bus series. Career pavilion. A new feature of the Festival Expo is the Career Pavilion for high school students, which includes a college fair, a job fair and a “networking area” where students can meet prominent scientists and engineers. The Career Pavilion will offer students numerous opportunities to explore tomorrow’s hot careers in fields such as renewable energy, robotics, space tourism, nanotechnology, virtual reality, and more. Students also can meet with representatives from top colleges and universities, as well as engineers from Lockheed Martin. science Celebrities. The following are just a few of the well-known personalities who will be on hand to help science come alive for Expo participants: Bill Nye the Science Guy; neuroscientist Mayim Bialik, star of the hit TV comedy The Big Bang Theory; Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage of Mythbusters; Jeff Lieberman, host of Discovery Channel’s Time Warp; and sleight-of-hand maestro Apollo Robbins. star-gazing party. On Saturday night, the Stargazing Party at the National Air and Space Museum, in collaboration with the USA Science & Engineering Festival, will kick off
with a guest appearance by Bill Nye the Science Guy. The Stargazing Party is made possible with generous support from Celestron. Featured author Evening Event. The George Washington University, with the USA Science & Engineering Festival Book Fair, will host a Saturday evening Featured Author Panel Discussion at 8:00 p.m. (doors open at 7:30 p.m.) in GWU’s Lisner Auditorium. The title of the discussion: “Science Stories in Society and School: Using Narrative to Bridge the Gap.” Featured bestselling authors include Robin Cook (Coma, Death Benefit) and Homer Hickam (Rocket Boys).
USA SCIENCE & ENGINEERING FESTIVAL: a sampling of Expo goings-on the many Worlds of lockheed martin. Check out more than 40 new exhibits from Lockheed Martin, the official host of the Festival. Immerse yourself in the cockpit simulator of an F-22 fighter jet, tour cities of the future, delve into the wonders of robotics and the Hubble telescope, plus many more exciting adventures.
other Festival activities
science of our senses. In a dazzling, nine-exhibit display, scientists from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) take you inside the inner workings of our five senses — from how babies make sense of sound to how scientists develop a sense of touch in robots.
In the weeks leading up to the Finale Expo, the USA Science & Engineering Festival organized a variety of other events and happenings designed to help achieve its mission of reinvigorating the interest of the nation’s young people in science, technology, engineering and math. For example, a group of prominent science professionals dubbed the “Nifty Fifty (times 2)” fanned out across the D.C. area earlier in the spring to speak about their work and careers at middle and high schools.
space heroes and heroines. Don’t miss meeting such science and engineering trailblazers as: John Mace Grunsfeld, Ph.D., a five-time space shuttle astronaut; electrical engineer Anousheh Ansari, who in 2006 became the first female private space explorer; and legendary video game innovator Richard Garriott, who became the sixth private citizen to journey into Earth’s orbit.
In a related effort, the USA Science & Engineering Festival is presenting “Lunch with a Laureate,” a national program that allows small groups of students to sit down with Nobel Prize-winning scientists over a brown bag lunch.
innovative Entrepreneurs. Hear from these exciting entrepreneurs who are changing the course of technology: Elon Musk, creator of rocket manufacturer SpaceX; and George Whitesides, CEO and president of Virgin Galactic, the pioneering U.S.-based space tourism company.
stage shows and performances. Rounding out the festivities will be more than 150 science-themed performances and stage shows by magicians, comedians, rappers and more (see performance schedule, page 5).
The USA Science & Engineering Festival is engaging business, government, and science and technology leaders in the effort to get today’s young people excited about pursuing science careers. Bring your future scientists and engineers to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on April 28-29 to find out more! Doors open up at 9:30 a.m. for presentations starting at 10:00 a.m.
For more information: www.usasciencefestival.org
Circus physics. How do all those clowns fit in one car? What’s involved in the physics of the Ferris wheel and the roller coaster? Come to the circus exhibit of the American Institute of Physics and other partners to find out. a moveable museum in Dinosaur history. Climb aboard this interactive traveling exhibit of
the American Museum of Natural History to examine dinosaur nests and tracks and learn more about the evolution of dinosaurs and their extinction. adventures in storm Chasing. Learn from real-life storm chasers Josh Wurman and Karen Kosiba how they use such high-tech tools as the Doppler on Wheels (DOW) mobile weather station to gather up-close data on tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires and winter storms. Experience a Fossil Dig in panama — live! In a live video feed with researchers on location in Panama, experience the excitement as scientists search for 15- to 20-million-year-old fossil deposits of extinct rhinoceroses, beardogs, camels, horses, and the giant shark. Forensic science — Up Close! Learn the secrets that CSI pros use to identify crime scene fingerprint patterns, work with hair samples and more. Engineering in Baseball. Discover the exciting ways science and engineering are used in baseball, including bat design and the use of high-speed cameras to test baseballs. tear apart an ipod. Come tear apart an iPod with the EE Times and Innovation Generation to see what makes this high-tech device tick! going Down With the titanic. Let David Gallo, the ocean scientist who co-led the Titanic wreck expedition, take you inside his research and underwater adventures. taste a Bug! Join Daniella Martin of Girl Meets Bug as she introduces you to the culinary delights of crickets, caterpillars, spiders and other edible insects.
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AN ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE WASHINGTON POST
THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012
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Ray O. Johnson is Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer with Lockheed Martin Corporation and Co-creator of the USA Science & Engineering Festival.
Nan Hauser works in the Cook Islands in the South Pacific Ocean as President and Director of the Center for Cetacean Research and Conservation.
Business Technology Leader
Whale Researcher and Conservationist
Photo by Paul hilton
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Science and engineering can open doors to a fun and rewarding life and success in a wide range of careers, from the arts and business to medicine, research, politics and government, and much more. In exclusive interviews for this supplement, a diverse group of prominent people talked about how they first came to love science and engineering in their youth, how they pursued their passion for these subjects through school and their early careers, and what they have to say to today’s students. Everyone on these pages is participating in some way in the USA Science & Engineering Festival’s Finale Expo in Washington, D.C. Find out how you can see them in person at www.usasciencefestival.org. Post your comments on the Festival’s Facebook Fan Page!
Green Chemist
Paul Anastas, known as “the father of green chemistry,” has served as Chief Scientist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and is a professor at Yale University. I grew up on a hill overlooking a beautiful wetland area in Massachusetts. When I was nine years old, the bulldozers came in and bulldozed everything we used to love about that place, and now it’s all glass buildings and parking lots. My Dad was a biology teacher and he told me if I really loved something and cared about it, I should learn enough about it so I could protect it. In graduate school I was doing research on how to treat cancer and after some people I knew and loved died of cancer, I decided to try and find out how we can prevent cancer in the first place. That’s what green chemistry is about. We’re trying to figure out how to produce products and build things and keep growing our economy without putting people at risk. What I’ve found in this work is we have the knowledge to build a better, safer world; we just need to use our minds to apply that knowledge in new ways.
I always liked math and science while growing up. My interest in electronics was piqued through hands-on, mail-order electronics projects where I could create my own clocks and radios, which eventually led to me becoming a ham radio operator. While I was in high school, I also took an electronics correspondence course (sort of the precursor to today’s online courses) and I became an electronics and computer technician. In college, I made a point of combining economics, law and philosophy with my engineering and science studies, and I think doing so is important for people going into the sciences. Studying the humanities increases one’s creativity, and business classes support successful innovation, which is as much about business as technology. Being educated in the humanities, sciences and business is important for tomorrow’s leaders. In my job, I lead 63,000 engineers and scientists who are working on some of the biggest challenges facing the United States and the world today, from global security to energy to cybersecurity. It’s important work, and we must together create a culture in which we elevate the stature of engineers, scientists and technologists to the level of celebrity. There is nothing that compares to the thrill of solving a difficult problem and making something work on your own.
homER hICkAm Bestselling Author
Homer Hickam is an author, Vietnam veteran and former NASA Engineer. His bestselling memoir, Rocket Boys, was the basis for the popular film October Sky.
gEoRgE WhITESIdES Put your passion to work
96%
of VCU Engineering graduates are employed or in advanced studies six months after graduation.*
* based on latest survey results.
· National Science Foundation Award Winning Faculty · Home of Fulbright and Goldwater Award Winning Students
Visit Hall A, Booth CP-4. www.egr.vcu.edu
Space Industry Leader George Whitesides is CEO and President of space tourism pioneer Virgin Galactic and previously served as Chief of Staff with NASA.
When I was 14 years old and living in a small West Virginia coal mining town, the Russians launched Sputnik, the world’s first space satellite. This made me want to work in the space business and that’s why my friends and I started to build rockets, teaching ourselves the math and science needed to make them to fly. To work for NASA, I went to engineering college but I also wanted to be a writer. When I was a little older, I became a scuba instructor and dived on the wrecks of German U-boats sunk off the U.S. east coast. That’s where my first book, Torpedo Junction, came from. Lots of people read it and before long I found myself writing Rocket Boys (also known as October Sky), which is about those days when I was a teenage rocket builder. My latest book, Crater, is set 120 years in the future and it’s about people living on the moon in a small mining town much like where I grew up except it’s 250,000 miles away! I think it’s time for us to think about the moon as Earth’s eighth continent and not some exotic place. Crater is written to help young people get excited about going to the moon and beyond because space is their future. There’s so much out there to explore and to learn!
I really loved reading science fiction when I was young. I also remember reading the biographies of the astronauts and promising myself that I would go into space one day. My passion for space didn’t resurface until I was studying overseas after college and I was in a place in North Africa with amazing night skies. The company I work for is planning the first commercial “spaceline” to take people into space. We hope to start operating commercially in 2013; it will cost people $200,000 to go into space with us, but over time that price is going to come down. I think this is a golden age to get into science and technology. The world of private space flight is just one example of all the opportunities there are for small groups of people to change the world.
APoLLo RobbINS
Theatrical Pickpocket Apollo Robbins travels the world as “The Gentleman Thief”; he once picked the pockets of the Secret Service while he entertained a former President.
Photo by Linda hickam
PAuL ANASTAS
I grew up with my grandparents and my parents on a wildlife preserve in Pennsylvania. Nature was always the most important thing in my life. At the end of every day, my grandmother would ask us kids what we had done to make the world a better place and to make ourselves better people. I still do that every night as I fall asleep. At first I achieved an art degree but I felt like I needed to do more for mankind, so I studied medicine and earned two nursing degrees. I loved working with humans, but I always had a drive to help protect dolphins. I remembered being in Bermuda as a child and watching the dolphins and the humpback whales passing by. I was so curious about them! When my three children were very small, I started a job making a film about dolphins. I was spending a lot of time underwater and I realized that I was seeing marine mammal behaviors that no one in the world had ever observed. My curiosity led me into a crusade to conduct hardcore scientific research, which I use to prevent these beautiful and highly intelligent animals from being killed and hurt because of whaling, noise pollution, fishing, etc. It’s amazing what you can do in this world if you follow your heart, study hard and effectively use your knowledge. When I get underwater with these animals, it is a gift. I leave the human world and look them in the eye, and I know that they know something incredible that we don’t know. It makes me fight for them even harder.
When I was young, I had problems with hand-eye coordination and fine and gross motor skills, so practicing sleight of hand became a kind of exercise. By my early twenties, I had pickpocketed roughly 250,000 people during my performances at Caesar’s Magical Empire. For me, these shows were an opportunity to experiment in human behavior, and they laid the groundwork for my work with the science community. Magic is based on people’s false assumptions; your reality is different than the reality of the person next to you. Magicians try to take advantage of that. My collaborations with neuroscientists have led me to more awareness of social psychology and better command of my craft. I see everything as a puzzle to solve, and if you keep working at it you find new pieces and new ways to put them all together.
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cATHERINE T.“KATIE” HUNT
Video Game Developer and Entrepreneur
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A Conversation with Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman
Business Research Leader
My Dad was a chemist. I was one of seven kids and I got to bond with him through chemistry. I remember once asking him why they put salt on the road and he pulled out his Handbook of Chemistry and Physics and we looked up the melting point of ice. It wasn’t just my Dad. My Mom wanted to be a chemist but was talked out of it, and she always told me don’t get talked out of what you love. When I got out of school, I was one of the only women in the lab. But there are a lot more women in chemistry now. Lab work is so important. It’s what I love most about my work. When I interviewed for my current job and they told me I could work in a lab and publish my results, that sealed it. And now I put teams together to look into cool research questions like how to make the roof on everyone’s home a source of energy. People think science is at a point where we’ve solved everything and there’s nothing left to do. But there’s so much we haven’t figured out, and that’s what makes this work so rewarding. Photos by gary Horn
My father was a scientist and astronaut, and he was always bringing home experimental hardware that NASA was working on for spaceflights. I loved playing with this stuff and trying to figure out how it worked. At the same time, my mother was always helping me with science fair projects where we’d go into the backyard and dig things up. When I was in high school, the personal computer wasn’t even invented yet but there was a teletype computer terminal in the school that no one knew how to use. I convinced my teachers to let me work on it for class credit so I could learn about programming. I immediately started creating games, and when the Apple II home computer came out I created a game and put copies in plastic bags to sell at the computer store where I worked. Before long, a national company got hold of the game and sold 30,000 copies. I got $5 per copy, so I earned $150,000 as a high school senior. My work in the videogame world has allowed me to go into space and do a lot of other things where we’re really testing the extremes of what we know about the Earth. There was a period when I was growing up when people thought all the easy stuff had been done and that we knew pretty much everything there was to know about our planet. That’s not even close to true. Science is discovery; there’s so much still to learn.
Photo courtesy of Discovery channel
Katie Hunt has worked in the chemical industry for more than 25 years as a research scientist and chemist. Dr. Hunt currently manages government research and development partnerships on sustainable technology issues for Dow Chemical Company.
Richard Garriott is a highly successful video game developer who also is known for making space travel history in 2008, when he traveled aboard a Russian spacecraft to the International Space Station as a self-funded tourist.
Did you guys have any inkling when you were kids that you’d become such huge science stars? Jamie: I was always prone to sticking my nose into things and investigating the world around me. I was just generally curious, and since we started working together we’ve discovered that both of us were prolific readers when we were kids. Adam: I was always making my own toys. My father was an artist and a filmmaker and always encouraged us to make things ourselves. And my favorite teachers were always my science teachers. I remember asking them lots of questions, and sometimes they would just answer, “I don’t know.” And when you think about it, there’s nothing more scientific than that.
information and finding out what I needed to know. Of all the skills and the knowledge I gained through my school years, that’s been the most important thing when it comes to what I do now. If you have questions, you need to be able to track down the information that will help you find answers. Adam: Information is power. Science and engineering are a way of looking at the world and being methodical and thinking about how to solve problems. If you are a scientist or an engineer, you have the tools you need to go anywhere you want to go. What’s your favorite part of your job — besides exploding stuff?
What’s your advice to students about how to pursue their interest in science?
Adam: We love getting into conversations with kids. They are the first ones who are going to tell us when we mess up. And they are always coming to us with great ideas for things we can do on the show.
Jamie: I went to Indiana University and studied Russian. My mother was a librarian at the university so I was always good at tracking down
Adam Savage (in photo, right) and Jamie Hyneman are the stars of the Discovery Channel hit series, Mythbusters.
ALFREDO QUIÑONES-HINOJOSA Brain Surgeon
Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa is an internationally known neurosurgeon and neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University who performs 250 brain surgeries a year while leading cuttingedge research to cure brain cancer. When I was growing up in Mexico, I was an impulsive young kid. I worked in my family’s gas station and was always doing experiments with gas that I shouldn’t have been doing. At night it was so hot I would sit on top of the house and look at the stars and dream of being an astronaut. After I came to this country, I applied myself to learning English and became a good student in math and science. My grandfather told me when I was young that it didn’t matter what I wanted to be; I just needed to be the best in the world. And today I am working with a group of wonderful people to try and save people’s lives every day.
Discover the scientist in you! Creative? Artistic? Curious? Find your path to success at Bowie State University where high quality undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs groom students for cutting-edge careers including: Cyber Security Robotics Forensic Science Nursing Bioinformatics Information Systems
Come explore the possibilities Visit www.bowiestate.edu
Visit BSU at the
USA Science & Engineering Festival, Booth #2856, Hall B
B OWI E STATE U N IVE R SITY, B OWI E, M D 301-860-4000
gLENN gAFFNEY
CIA Science and Technology Leader As Director for Science and Technology with the CIA, Glenn Gaffney oversees the agency’s efforts to create and apply innovative technology to the work of collecting intelligence. As a boy, I was fascinated with rocketry and space exploration, and I spent hours building model rockets and imagining what I might find if I were an astronaut. As I got older, I started to build small launchers that lifted tennis balls (and my parents’ blood pressure) to new heights. My message to young people is that if you are interested in science, pursue it. Our nation needs to play a leadership role in developing scientific and technological knowledge and understanding. Think about how you can focus your talent and energy to help your community, your nation and the world. Every effort makes a difference.
ROBIN cOOK
Doctor and Bestselling Author Trained as a doctor, Robin Cook is a bestselling author of medical thrillers including Coma and the current bestseller, Death Benefit.
The father of my best friend in middle school worked at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, so we spent lots of time in the paleontology section at the museum, both in the public areas but also in the labs where they were extracting fossils. After spending just about every Saturday morning there, we would walk across Central Park to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where we would then haunt the Egyptian
section there. In my fiction I try to help readers see that too much mixing of science and business can be dangerous. My advice to young people is to always remember the core reason why you are doing what you’re doing, and try to stick to that. Science and medicine can do great things; it’s an enormous responsibility to be a scientist and it’s important to stay focused on the good you can do for the world.
OFFERING PROGRAMS IN: Biology Chemistry Computer Science Environmental Science Mathematics and Statistics Physics Premedical Psychology Public Health Visit our Science in the Kitchen exhibition at the USA Science and Engineering Festival Hall A, Booth Number 3643 www.american.edu/CASscience
< NORTH
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730 21st St, NW, 21st and H Street NW, Washington DC 20052 3 blocks from Foggy Bottom/GWU Metro on Blue/Oange Line Find information at Book Fair Information Booth in EXPO Hall B Space is Limited - Get FREE tickets at bookfairevening.eventbrite.com
THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, LISNER AUDITORIUM
Robin Cook, Homer Hickam, William Gurstelle, Theodore Gray, Joy Hakim, Pendred Noyce Moderated By Shawn Lawrence Otto
MAYIM BIALIK WILL BE SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS HERE AT 3PM ON SATURDAY
WRIGHT BROTHERS STAGE
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BOOK FAIR STAGES OPEN 9:30AM
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KAVLI INSTITUTE
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WIFI HOT SPOT
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Celeste Baine 3:30pm
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Holly Tucker 3:30pm
Blood Work
The Musical Engineer
(booksigning 4:00pm)
(booksigning 4:00pm)
Cure / Death Benefit
(booksigning 3:00pm)
Robin Cook 2:35pm
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Fred Bortz 2:35pm
Meltdown
(booksigning 3:00pm)
Robert Crease 1:40pm
World in the Balance
Steve Wolf 1:40pm
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The Secret Science Behind Movie Stunts and Special Events
(booksigning 2:00pm)
(booksigning 2:00pm)
A Hole at the Bottom of the Sea
(booksigning 1:00pm)
Joel Achenbach 12:45pm
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Sean Connolly 12:45pm
The Book of Perfectly Perilous Math
(booksigning 1:00pm)
Theodore Gray 11:50am
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Dr. Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa 11:50am
Becoming Dr. Q
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Theodore Gray's Elements Vault
(booksigning 12:00pm)
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Breakthrough
(booksigning 11:00am)
Walter Lewin 10:00am
For the Love of Physics
Street Level Room 146AB
Thea Cooper 10:55am
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HIGH SCHOOLSTORIES OF SCIENCE
Carl Zimmer 10:55am
Science Ink
(booksigning 11:00am)
Joy Hakim 10:00am
Story of Science
Street Level Room 147AB
TEEN NON FICTION
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BOOK STORE BY BOOKS-A-MILLION
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FEATURED AUTHOR BOOK SIGNING AREA
MAGIC SCHOOL BUS
14 APS
12 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
13 AAAS
15 ACS
HARGROVE EXHIBITOR SERVICE DESK
(booksigning 5:30pm)
Loree Griffin Burns 4:25pm
Citizen Scientists
(booksigning 4:30pm)
Dia Michels 3:30pm
If my Mom were a Platypus
(booksigning 4:00pm)
Rebecca Klemm 2:35pm
Numbers Alive
(booksigning 3:00pm)
Dawn Cusik 1:40pm
Get the Scoop on Animal Poop
(booksigning 2:00pm)
Jenny Offill 12:45pm
11 Experiments that Failed
(booksigning 1:00pm)
Jeff Bennett 11:50am
The Wizard Who Saved the World
(booksigning 12:00pm)
Bruce Degen 10:55am
The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge
(booksigning 11:00am)
Seymour Simon 10:00am
Butterflies
Street Level Room 145AB
FAMILY SCIENCE
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ONGOING PRESENTATIONS ON THE LOCKHEED MARTIN STAGE
THE LOCKHEED MARTIN EXPERIENCE
NATIONAL ROBOT FEST AND DIY EXPO 2445
17 NATIONAL INSTITUES OF HEALTH
ILLUMINA, INC
WIFI HOT SPOT
T-SHIRTS
GENRE
(booksigning 3:00pm)
Susan Beth Pfeffer 1:40pm
This World We Live In
(booksigning 2:00pm)
Julie Chibarro 12:45pm
Deadly
(booksigning 1:00pm)
Benedict Carey 11:50am
Poison Most Vial: A Mystery
(booksigning 12:00pm)
Homer Hickam 10:55am
Crater
(booksigning 11:00am)
Pendred Noyce 10:00am
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(booksigning 3:00pm)
Dustyn Roberts 1:40pm
Making Things Move
(booksigning 2:00pm)
Allen Kurzweil 12:45pm
Potato Chip Science
(booksigning 1:00pm)
Ed Sobey 11:50am
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BOOK SIGNINGS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING IN FESTIVAL BOOK FAIR - HALL B
(booksigning 2:00pm)
Curt Stager 12:45pm
Deep Future
(booksigning 1:00pm)
Sheril Kirshenbaum 11:50am
Unscrewed
The Science of Kissing
William Gurstelle 10:55am
Practical Pyromaniac
(booksigning 11:00am)
Ken Denmead 10:00am
The Geek Dad Book for Aspiring Mad Scientists
(booksigning 12:00pm) 13+
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Street Level Room 145AB
HANDS ON SCIENCE
(booksigning 12:00pm)
Joe Palca 10:55am
Annoying
(booksigning 11:00am)
Lisa Randall 10:00am
Knocking on Heaven’s Door
Lost in Lexicon 9+
Street Level Room 147AB Street Level Room 146AB
HIGH SCHOOLDISCOVERY IN SCIENCE
TEEN FICTION
Author Presentations: Street Level (upstairs from Expo) / Book Signings: Concourse Level – Doors open 9:30am for Author Presentations starting at 10am
EXHIBITOR/VOLUNTEER/MEDIA/PERFORMER REGISTRATION
BOOK FAIR ENTRANCE
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YOU CAN DO THE RUBIK'S CUBE/ SCIENCE CHEERLEADERS SCIEN
UP TO STREET LEVEL
223
ONGOING PRESENTATIONS ON THE AAAS STAGE
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PBS “SID THE KID”AND NAS “DJ SLEEPER”WILL BE PERFORMING BETWEEN ACTS – CHECK OUR WEBSITE OR MOBILE APP FOR EXACT TIMES!)
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BILL NYE WILL BE SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS HERE FROM 11:00 AM-12:30 PM ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
CAREER PAVILION
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SEAS JOHN HOPKINS UNIVERSITY APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY PURDUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LOWELL AND 30 OTHERS
COLLEGE FAIR + JOB FAIR + CHANCE TO MEET SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS
The Federation of American Scientists (FAS)
American Society For Microbiology
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
4:00pm - 4:50pm
Lockheed Martin
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
3:00pm - 3:50pm
American Physical Society (APS) together with AIP/SPS, ASA, OSA and AAPP
Intellectual Property Law Professionals (IPLP) 3:00pm - 3:50pm
2:00pm - 2:50pm
Central Intelligence Agency
1:00pm - 1:50pm
Science, Engineering and Mathematics Link Inc.
2:00pm - 2:50pm
Consortium for Ocean Leadership
1:00pm - 1:50pm
Association for Women in Science (AWIS)
12:00pm - 12:50pm
11:00am - 11:50am
11:00am - 11:50am 12:00pm - 12:50pm
SUNDAY
SATURDAY
Every hour students can conduct in-person interviews with scientists and engineers from different disciplines. Sample questions to ask: What kind of work do you do on a daily basis? What keeps you going? What challenges have you encountered? What kind of training does one need to get your job?
MEET THE SCIENTIST/ENGINEER IN THE CAREER PAVILION PRESENTED WITH FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SCIENTISTS
FROM CONCOURSE TO LOWER LEVEL
HALL A ENTRANCE
22 US AIR FORCE
22 US AIR FORCE
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T-SHIRTS
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Download the free Festival app at: www.crwd.cc/USASF2012
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MICHIGAN MOBILE LAB
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
WEATHER UNDERGROUND 23
HALL A CELESTRON
THE GWU SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE
AN ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE WASHINGTON POST
APRIL 28, 2012, 8:00 PM TO 10:00 PM
SCIENCE STORIES IN SOCIETY & SCHOOL: Using Narrative to Bridge the Gap
FEATURED AUTHOR PANEL DISCUSSION
AT THE NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSUEM in collaboration with the USA Science & Engineering Festival With Guest Appearance By Bill Nye The Science Guy Made possible with the generous support of Celestron Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall, Independence Ave at 6th St, SW Find information about Stargazing Party at Celestron, Planetary Society & Big Kid Science Booths Walking tours of the Voyage Scale Model Solar System begin at 6:30 PM | Space is limited!
APRIL 28, 2012, 7:45 PM TO 10:30 PM
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TO LOCKHEED MARTIN & EATART’S OUTDOOR PRESENTATION (7TH ST & K ST NW)
MT VERNON PLACE
STARGAZING PARTY
DON’T MISS THESE FREE SATURDAY EVENING EVENTS:
THE USA SCIENCE & ENGINEERING FESTIVAL IS PROUD TO HOST THE 2012 NATIONAL ROBOTFEST AND DIY EXPO LOCATED IN HALL B
2012 NATIONAL ROBOTFEST AND DIY EXPO
MAP
2012 EXPO
CARVER STAGE
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CURIE STAGE
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EDISON STAGE
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WALTER E. WASHINGTON CONVENTION CENTER
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EINSTEIN STAGE
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AA4 THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012
FEATURED AUTHOR
SUNDAY
STAGE
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
SATURDAY
STAGE
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2:00pm - 2:50pm
1:30pm - 2:20pm
3:00pm - 3:20pm
- David Gallo
The Secrets of the Sea: Exploring Neptune's Realm
11+
3:00pm - 4:00pm
- The Kavli Foundation
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
SUNDAY Dr. Molecule - Bloomfield Science Museum, Jerusalem
3:30pm - 4:00pm
Beyond Your Imagination - Jeff Lieberman
2:30pm - 3:20pm
NOBELIUM
Dumbledore's Transfiguration Class: Science and Magic from Hogwart's Academy - Alan McCormack
3+
11+
How Big is Big? - Dr. Jeff Goldstein
3:30pm - 4:00pm
Puns and Puzzles - Patrick Vennebush
3:00pm - 3:20pm
The Magic of Chemistry - Dr. Joe Schwarcz
2:00pm - 2:50pm
The Great Whale Trail - Tales of the most awe inspiring creature on the planet - Nan Hauser
1:30pm - 1:50pm
The Real ET: What Would He Be Like? - Seth Shostak
1:00pm - 1:20pm
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11+
11+
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EINSTEINIUM
Explosive
Magic
Lecture
Music
ICONS LEGEND
Inspiration
Little Kids
Explorer
Celebrity
3+
7+
Comedy
Demo
Competition
Brain Quest Challenge Performance - Brain Quest Challenge
3:00pm - 4:00pm
- The Science Cheerleaders
ProCheerleaders-Turned-Scientists
1:30pm - 2:20pm
KRYPTON
Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Celestron, Xconomy, Baxter International, American Nuclear Society, Amgen, Association of Science-Technology Centers, You Can Do the Rubik's Cube, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Defense, Raytheon, Center for America, Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals (SMRP), Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Purdue University, Aldebaran Robotics Inc., 3M, U.S. Army RDECOM and eCYBERMISSION, Project Lead The Way (PLTW), Northern Virginia Technology Council, The Scripps Foundation for Science and the Environment, Center for Biotechnology Education at Johns Hopkins University, Janssen Research & Development, LLC
PLATINUM
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K&L GATESIUM
BOCKIUM
Kavli Science Video Contest Award Ceremony, Hosted by Bill Nye
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3+
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AN ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE WASHINGTON POST
LOCKHEEDIUM / FESTIVAL HOST
Science IS Fun! - 3M Visiting Wizards
3:30pm - 4:00pm
3:00pm - 4:00pm
3+
Optical Illusions Show How We See - R. Beau Lotto
Yo! Science Raps! - funky49
1:30pm - 2:20pm
Eat A Bug, Save The World - Girl Meets Bug, Daniella Martin
1:00pm - 1:20pm
12:30pm - 12:50pm
Storm Chasers - Joshua Wurman
Warm-Up - The Science Cheerleaders
1:00pm - 1:20pm
- The Science Cheerleaders
ProCheerleaders-Turned-Scientists
11:00pm - 11:20pm
Warm-Up - The Science Cheerleaders
10:30am - 10:50am
WRIGHTExpoBROTHERS Hall C
THE FOLLOWING EXHIBITORS OFFER ONGOING PRESENTATIONS AND PERFORMANCES IN THEIR EXHIBIT SPACES: LOCKHEED MARTIN, AAAS, NATIONAL ACADEMIES, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH. CHECK ABOVE EXHIBITOR BOOTHS FOR EXACT SCHEDULE.
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WALTER E. WASHINGTON CONVENTION CENTER, WASHINGTON, D.C.
Spontaneous Emissions - Science Comedian Brian Malow
11+
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Wash and Wear Electronic Fashion Show - Robot Fest Events, Inc.
ALL
- Dr. Pete
Chemical Engineering - More Than Just Gas
7+
ProCheerleaders-Turned-Scientists - The Science Cheerleaders
3:00pm - 3:50pm
- Mayim Bialik of The Big Bang Theory
A Real-Life Scientist!
2:30pm - 3:00pm
ProCheerleaders-Turned-Scientists - The Science Cheerleaders
1:30pm - 2:20pm
Warm-Up - The Science Cheerleaders
1:00pm - 1:20pm
- You CAN Do the Rubik's Cube
Rubik's Cube Team Challenge Awards Ceremony
12:30pm - 12:50pm
- You CAN Do the Rubik's Cube
You CAN Do the Rubik's Cube Final Competition
11:00am - 11:50am
Sat: 10am-6pm|Sun:10am-4pm|Doors open 9:30am for Author Presentations
15+
- Adam Weiner
2:30pm - 2:50pm
- Science Bob Pflugfelder
2:30pm - 2:50pm
Science Showdown! - The Franklin Institute
1:30pm - 2:20pm
Science of Spin - That Yo-Yo Guy, Dick Stohr
12:00pm - 12:50pm
1:00pm - 1:20pm
7+
Magic Tricks - Science Facts - Bob Friedhoffer
The Light Side of Physics - Moshe Risphon
11+
12:00pm - 12:20pm
15+
3+
11:30pm - 11:50am
11:00am - 11:50pm
Team Ten Tour Washington DC! - NumbersAlive!
10:30am - 10:50am
12:00pm - 12:50pm 7+
7+
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FRANKLIN Street Level Room 150AB
11+
11+
7+
Living in the Real World: The Intersection of Science and Life - Jeffrey Bennett
11:00am - 11:20pm
Songs From the Science Frontier - Monty Harper
10:30am - 10:50am
EINSTEIN Expo Hall A
Statistics: Feel the Power of the Dork Side - Dr. Pete
5:00pm - 6:00pm
Science IS Fun! - 3M Visiting Wizards
The Physics of Hollywood Movies - Adam Weiner
4:00pm - 4:50pm
5:00pm - 6:00pm 3+
15+
- Joshua Wurman, Karen Kosiba
3:00pm - 3:50pm
Running the Wrong Way - Into Tornadoes and Hurricanes
Scientist or Comedian? - Tim Lee
4:30pm - 4:50pm
3+
The Weather Dude - Nick Walker
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Sing Along Science Songs - Joe McDermott
3:30pm - 4:20pm
The Secrets of the Sea: Exploring Neptune's Realm - David Gallo
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SuperScience Sounds - Marshall Barnes
11:30am - 11:50am
Science Cabaret - Lynda Williams
10:30am - 11:20am
EDISON Expo Hall B
Yo! Science Raps! - funky49
5:30pm - 6:00pm
7+
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
The Versatile Mr. Freeze
2:30pm - 2:50pm
- Patrick Vennebush
Puns and Puzzles
2:00pm - 2:20pm
The Magic of Chemistry - Dr. Joe Schwarcz
1:00pm - 1:50pm
The Great Whale Trail - Tales of the Most Awe-Inspiring Creature on the Planet - Nan Hauser
12:00pm - 12:50pm
The Real ET: What Would He Be Like? - Seth Shostak
11:00am - 11:50pm
- Chantelle Rose, Pathfinder Teacher Astronaut
10:30am - 10:50am
Teachers in Space
WRIGHTExpoBROTHERS Hall C
APRIL 28 & 29, 2012
The Physics of Hollywood Movies
11+
11+
3+
7+
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The Light Side of Physics - Moshe Rishpon
4:30pm - 5:20pm
- Lynda Williams
Science Karaoke
3+
3+
3+
3+
7+
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FRANKLIN
Street Level Room 150AB
EXPO & BOOK FAIR
Don't Try This At Home - The Wonders of Science
7+
The Physics of Superheroes - James Kakalios
7+
Scientist or Comedian? - Tim Lee
1:00pm - 1:50pm
1:00pm - 1:20pm
12:00pm - 12:50pm
- National Institutes of Health
Performance by Dr. Francis Collins, NIH Director/ Scientific Rockstar
11:30am - 11:50am
Mathemagician - Art Benjamin
10:30am - 11:20am
CURIE Expo Hall C
- Elon Musk, Richard Garriott, George Whitesides, Moderated by Josh Wolfe
Meet Some Amazing Science Entrepreneurs
5:00pm - 6:00pm
Bubbleology - Keith Michael Johnson
15+
3+
3+
15+
Spontaneous Emissions - Science Comedian Brian Malow
4:30pm - 4:50pm
Bill Nye the Science Guy and Your Place in Space - Bill Nye
2:30pm - 3:20pm
3+
3:30pm - 4:20pm
7+
3:30pm - 4:20pm
1:30pm - 2:20pm
- The Franklin Institute
Science Showdown!
12:30pm - 1:20pm
Dumbledore's Transfiguration Class: Science and Magic from Hogwart's Academy- Alan McCormack
3+
7+
- The Rope Warrior
2:30pm - 3:20pm
- Science Bob Pflugfelder
Don't Try This At Home - The Wonders of Science
1:30pm - 2:20pm
The Science of Rope Jumping
11+
7+
Eat A Bug, Save The World - Girl Meets Bug, Daniella Martin
Sleight- of-Hand: Inside the Science of Illusion! - Apollo Robbins
2:30pm - 3:20pm
- Adam Savage & Jamie Hyneman
Using Science to Bust Myths
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
The Versatile Mr. Freeze
12:00pm - 12:50pm
Sing Along Science Songs - Joe McDermott
11:00am - 11:50am
- Aldebaran Robotics
NAO Robot: Advance Your Students into the Future!
10:30am - 10:50am
CARVER Expo Hall C
Who Wants to Be a Mathematician -American Mathematical Society
5:00pm - 6:00pm
The Physics of Superheroes - James Kakalios
4:00pm - 4:50pm
The Attack of the Monster Molecule - Dr. Pete
3:00pm - 3:50pm
Magic Tricks - Science Facts - Bob Friedhoffer
2:00pm - 2:50pm
The Comedy of Science - Norman Goldblatt
1:30pm - 1:50pm
Optical Illusions Show How We See - R. Beau Lotto
1:00pm - 2:20pm
11+
12:30pm - 1:20pm
Dr. Molecule - Bloomfield Science Museum, Jerusalem
11:30pm - 12:20pm
3+
Songs From the Science Frontier - Monty Harper
7+
12:30pm - 1:20pm
11:00am - 11:20pm
12:00pm - 12:50pm
- Marshall Barnes
SuperScience Sounds
10:30am - 10:50am
11:30am - 12:20pm
7+
3+
- Keith Michael Johnson
Bubbleology
10:30am - 11:20am
EINSTEIN Expo Hall A
Beyond Your Imagination - Jeff Lieberman
11+
3+
EDISON Expo Hall B
Science of Spin - That Yo-Yo Guy, Dick Stohr
11:00am - 11:50am
- Aldebaran Robotics
NAO Robot: Advance Your Students into the Future!
10:30am - 10:50am
Mathemagician - Art Benjamin
11+
7+
3+
CURIE Expo Hall C
Immerse Yourself in the Fascinating Worlds of Richard Garriott! - Richard Garriott
11:30am - 12:20pm
The Weather Dude - Nick Walker
11:00am - 11:20am
Team Ten Tour Washington DC! - NumbersAlive!
10:30am - 10:50am
CARVER Expo Hall C
THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012 EE
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AN ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE WASHINGTON POST
EE
THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012
WE ARE sCIEnCE!
AnousHEH AnsARI
lIsA RAndAll
Anousheh Ansari made world headlines in 2006 as the first female private space explorer. She currently serves as Cofounder and Chairman of Prodea Systems.
Lisa Randall studies theoretical particle physics and cosmology at Harvard University and is the author of Knocking on Heaven’s Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World.
Entrepreneur and Private Space Explorer
Photo by Tsar Fedorsky
I lived in Iran until I was 16, and what got me interested in math and science was a love of the stars and the night skies. I loved “Star Trek” and science fiction books and I believed in my heart that the answers to the most important questions in life were up there among the stars. After I came to the United States, I studied electrical engineering in college and then started a telecommunications business that we sold in 2000. That’s when I started thinking about the possibility of opening access to space to all and traveling to space as a private space explorer. Being in space is a lifechanging experience. All my life I had dreamed of it and it was better than anything I imagined. There you are floating freely in
Theoretical Physicist and Author
space and looking at your planet and your home and the billions of stars all around. You feel small
but you also realize you are part of something much bigger, and you come back wanting to know even
more about everything that’s out there in the universe.
Elon Musk
sEYMouR sIMon
Elon Musk created three transformational businesses: the Internet payment company Paypal; the electric car company Tesla; and SpaceX, which is developing the world’s most advanced rockets and spacecraft.
Over three decades, Seymour Simon has penned more than 250 children’s books about science.
Photo by liz nealon
Bestselling Author
Photo by Emily shur
Entrepreneur
I was a good student who did well in all subjects when I was younger. I liked math in particular because I liked the way problems had definite answers. I didn’t have too much serious science education until I took a physics class in my sophomore year at Stuyvesant High School in New York. Earlier on, physics hadn’t entered my radar as a career. I didn’t know any practicing scientists. However, when I got to college, I decided to major in physics with an emphasis on math as well. I wasn’t positive it was what I would do but it seemed clear that if there was any chance I would pursue a career as a physicist, it was best to start studying right away. Today I do theoretical elementary particle physics and cosmology. My research focuses on trying to understand the basic elements of matter and what the universe is made of. Whether you’re a scientist, a doctor, a lawyer or anything else, success comes from doing what you value, putting your mind to it, and not being afraid to ask questions and to try to find the answers. It’s important to listen but it’s also important to think things through on your own to put it all together in new and consistent ways.
MAYIM BIAlIk
Actor, Author and Scientist
FRAnCIs CollIns
Physician-Geneticist and Government Leader Francis S. Collins is Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and led the Human Genome Project.
I was born in the Bronx in New York City and even though I was growing up in the city, I was always out in vacant lots studying bugs and plants and nature. In junior high, I joined an astronomy club at the American Museum of Natural History, and I ended up going to The Bronx High School of Science. I worked as a teacher for 25 years and that’s when I started writing about science. I even wrote a book called Science in a Vacant Lot for other kids growing up in cities. Science has allowed me to learn so much and do so many different things. I want to share that sense of excitement with every young person who reads my books.
Photo courtesy of national Institutes of Health
I liked video games when I was growing up in South Africa and I started writing my own games. I ended up selling one of them to a computer magazine for $500. When I was in college in the United States, I thought there were three areas of technology that would have the greatest effect on the future of humanity: the Internet; sustainable energy; and making life multi-planetary. In the years since then, I have been fortunate to become involved in businesses in each of these areas. In 20 years, we could see a very different world where the majority of cars are powered by electricity and people travel to Mars. I am going to do my best to make sure those two things come true, and we will need smart and dedicated young people to help.
I never thought a lot about science as a child. I always thought science was for boys. But I had an amazing tutor when I was working on “Blossom”. She made biology and science come alive for me. It takes all kinds of people to make the world go around, and we need more people to develop the love of science that my tutor instilled in me. The world is a wonderful place when you look at it through a scientist’s mind.
NIH Director Francis Collins (in red tie) talking with President Obama. Also on hand are (from left) Bill Corr, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius; and Dr. John Holdren, the President’s science advisor.
My high school chemistry teacher gave every student a sealed black box on our first day, and we couldn’t open it until we had come up with every possible experiment to try and determine what was inside. That year I fell in love with chemistry, and I went through college as a chemistry major. But then I developed an interest in biology. I went from graduate school to medical school and found a lifelong passion for human genetics. Human genetics is the most exciting kind of science I can imagine. It is an adventure into ourselves. Now, in my current job, I get to encourage and learn from thousands of biomedical scientists, whether it’s preventing cancer or treating diabetes. There are so many opportunities to make a difference in science. I always encourage young people to read and learn more about successful scientists who inspire them. But most importantly, I urge them to find time to work in a lab, and to find out how exciting it is to investigate those “black boxes” that are all around us — scientific mysteries just waiting to be solved.
Photo by denise Herrick Borchert
Mayim Bialik holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience and is the author of the new book, Beyond the Sling, about parent-child bonding. She was the star of the 1990s NBC show Blossom and currently appears in the CBS hit The Big Bang Theory.
AN ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE WASHINGTON POST
THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012
CAROL GREIDER
Nobel Prize-Winning Molecular Biologist Carol Greider is one of the world’s pioneering researchers on the structure of chromosome ends known as telomeres. She received the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
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I first became captivated by science in high school, when I had a biology teacher who made what we were studying come alive. At first, I thought I was interested in marine biology, but one of the great things about science is you quickly discover what you really like doing when you get into a lab. And what I discovered in college was I liked solving the puzzles of biochemistry and how different proteins interact. The puzzle I set out to solve in my work is how cells maintain protective chromosome ends called telomeres as they divide. This has very important implications for human diseases such as cancer, and understanding the process can help us figure out how we might treat certain age-related diseases. It’s the excitement of solving the puzzle that keeps me going every day.
BETh ShApIRO
MAYA GARCIA
Evolutionary Biologist
Award-Winning Science Teacher
Beth Shapiro is Associate Professor of biology at Pennsylvania State University and is a top researcher in the emerging field of “ancient DNA.”
A science teacher at Hardy Middle School in Washington, D.C., Maya M. Garcia is a recipient of the Distinguished Fulbright Award in Teaching. My father was a naturalist and I grew up with more than 2,000 species of cacti and succulents in my backyard. We lived in Los Angeles and then South Texas, and we would travel around the Southwest to study and learn more about these plants. In school, I had great female science teachers who were important role models for me. They helped me feel empowered and helped me see that I could be successful in the sciences myself. I was enrolled in the pre-med program in college but I always enjoyed working with students so I got my master’s degree in science education and came to D.C. to teach. I tell my students all the time that science is all around us and if you are scientifically literate you can go on and do great things in any field.
DAVID GALLO
I have ADD and had a very difficult time in school. Even though I was deeply interested in science and was always outside at night with a telescope looking at the stars, my teachers and guidance counselors kept telling me I didn’t have the aptitude for it. That hurt. It wasn’t until I was in my mid-twenties that I got my pride back. I was reading an article by [oceanography pioneer Dr. Robert Ballard] about exploring the deep ocean and that made me want to do what he was doing. I went back to school and had my first dive in 1979 and soon started working with Ballard in his lab. When I was growing up, I had this sense that the whole planet had already been explored and there was nothing to discover any more. But every day you learn something new. This is still an unknown planet.
Oceanographer In college, I took an awesome course in geology and anthropology where we got to travel across the country in the summer to learn about how the Grand Tetons were formed and about Yellowstone National Park and all these other amazing things. I decided I wanted a career where I could be outside studying the formation of rocks and fossils and how life forms have changed over millions of years. I saw that there was a real revolution underway in science where we could look at things through the prism of genetics and DNA. This is about much more than just digging up bones; we’re learning why certain species do well and why others go extinct. What I like most about my job is that I never do the same thing every day. I can be inside or outside, teaching a class, or speaking in front of a large audience. And none of it would have happened if I hadn’t been flexible and open to new opportunities that came my way.
CARL WIEMAN
Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist and White House Science and Technology Leader
plo x E
MAJ. GEN. EDWARD BOLTON, JR.
r e t h e my s t e r y
behind the science with Michigan Tech Mind Trekkers
Military Space Leader
Maj. Gen. Edward L. Bolton, Jr. has overseen space shuttle launches and other launch missions for the U.S. Air Force at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The general currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Budget with the Air Force in Washington, D.C. U.S.Air Force photo by Andy Morataya
Carl Wieman is Associate Director for Science at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001 for the creation of a new form of matter known as “Bose-Einstein condensate.”
As Director of Special Projects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, David Gallo has taken part in some of the most adventurous deep-sea exploration projects of this era, including the exploration of the Titanic.
www.mindtrekkers.mtu.edu Michigan Technological University is an equal opportunity educational institution/equal opportunity employer.
Looking for homework help?
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• Ad-free environment • Math, science, English and more • Check us out at Sophia.org Sign up for the SOPHIA Summer Challenge and a chance to win an iPad and more! I always liked building things as a kid, and I think that’s what ultimately drove me into experimental physics. I got to build new gadgets and discover how things worked. My research has focused on blasting atoms with lasers and watching how they behave. Success in science is like success in any other endeavor. You have to work at it really hard, and when you do there is nothing like the thrill of discovering new things. You get a chance to see nature not as some mysterious and unknowable set of processes but as something that makes sense. It’s like being an explorer. You can be the first person to understand how something works.
I received a scholarship after enlisting in the Air Force that allowed me to complete an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering as part of an officer training program. Later, I was able to get two master’s degrees. Before long I was deeply involved in launch campaigns for the space shuttle and all kinds of military and non-military launches. What I have found in my work over the years is that math matters. The foundation of science and technology is math. When students apply themselves in math, they’re setting themselves up for their own successful launches to rewarding lives and careers.
Visit us at Booth# 2946
St. Cloud State univerSity
St. Cloud State University (SCSU) located along the Mississippi River in St. Cloud, Minnesota opened its doors to students in 1869. Today St. Cloud State University is the second largest university in Minnesota offering undergraduate and graduate studies in many accredited programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Visit us at the USA Science & Engineering Festival! To learn more about us visit www.stcloudstate.edu or contact Dr. Carolyn R. Williams, Associate Dean for Multicultural Affairs & STEM Initiative at 320-308-3690
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AN ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE WASHINGTON POST
THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012
© 2012 Lockheed Martin Corporation
AA8
ONE DAY HE MAY LOOK BACK AND SAY THAT THE
FUTURE STARTED HERE
At Lockheed Martin, when we envision the future, we see a world of never-ending possibility. But that future will never be realized unless we prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s challenges. That’s why it is vitally important for young people to study science, technology, engineering, and math. And it’s also why Lockheed Martin is proud to be a part of the USA Science & Engineering Festival. Visitors to our booth will see how satellites work, meet astronauts, “fly” the F-22 fighter, learn how tornadoes work, and much more. It is our hope, and our mission, to inspire the next generation of innovators to dream big. And make big things happen. Visit us at Booth #1. www.lockheedmartin.com