“Society gets what it celebrates,” says Larry Bock.  “We celebrate Lindsay Lohan, so we get a lot of Lindsay Lohans.  But we don’t celebrate scientists and engineers.”

This is the idea that inspired Larry Bock to put together the USA Science and Engineering Festival.  It takes place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on October 23 and 24. Their mission statement reads: “Our mission is to re-invigorate the interest of our nation’s youth in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by producing and presenting the most compelling, exciting, educational and entertaining science gatherings in the United States.”

Bock says that there will be more than 250 exhibits there from more than 750 organizations.  “We have 150 professional science organizations, 100 universities, 50 government agencies, 25 Nobel Laureates...” and the list goes on.  Previously, Bock was part of organizing a similar science and engineering festival in San Diego, CA.  This one, he says, will be 20 times the size of that one.  

The common theme uniting the exhibits in the festival is sustainability and renewable energy. “There is more horsepower behind this event because we’re getting the national spectrum, instead of just a local one. There will be virtual reality, surgical robots, as well as groups doing demonstrations with marshmallows and toothpicks,” said Gallant.  

The exhibits will spread out beyond the National Mall, and beyond the city limits as well.  “We even have 50 satellite events taking place throughout the country on the same weekend.  Our goal is for one million people to participate nationwide.”  

Gallant described the motivation behind the festival as celebrating science in all forms.  “There will be lots of hands-on activities, as well as theater, art, and film all celebrating science.  There will be science rappers, comedians, and musicians as well.”

He even mentioned that science celebrities like the Mythbusters and Bill Nye the Science Guy will also be there.  

Fixing herniated spines, extracting natural pesticides from plants and synthesizing nanocrystals. These are just a few of the science experiments teenagers conducted to win a trip to San Jose, the site of this year’s Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. It’s the world’s largest science competition for pre-college students – the result of millions of high school students around the world competing in smaller, regional fairs and tinkering with year-long projects that could very well lead to major scientific and technological breakthroughs.

As if the quest for innovation wasn’t enough of a motivation for these teenagers, the $50,000 prize for the top three contestants probably provides an additional boost. In all, the fair gives out nearly $4 million in tuition grants, scholarships, and scientific field-trips.

Youth Radio put a call out to students bound for the fair, asking them to make a short webcam video describing their projects. We also asked them to estimate their chances of winning a grand prize.

The official judging for the competition is currently underway and the announcement of the winners is scheduled for Friday, May 14.

But based on what we’ve seen, Youth Radio has already picked its favorite – Ivan Lazarevich’s “Sandstorm in a Teacup: Patterns in a Vibrating Granular Layer.” Not only does the title of this project reference a popular techno song, but he provides insight into the patterns that appear when sand and other granular surfaces are exposed to vibrations. A theoretical model based on Lazarevich’s observations could help predict where desert sand ends up after being shaken by an earthquake.

Below is remix we made of Lazarevich’s video. OK, so it’s not $50,000 -- but it’s our little show of admiration.

Now with even more video!
A note on the series:

Welcome to Brains and Beakers, a new Youth Radio series where young people bring science to life.