The second USA Science and Engineering Festival was held in Washington, D.C., 28-29 April, with a sneak peek on Friday for student tours, followed by a quick visit from President Obama.
Saturday and Sunday were very successful, with more than 150,000 visitors. The first (2011) Festival was held on the Mall, but the Convention Center offered a more stable venue–with more exhibitors and more complex exhibits.
IEEE-USA’s booth was setup on Thursday, ready for the Friday student school tours.
IEEE-USA President-elect Marc Apter assisted students with the dynamo– demonstrating the required power to light an incandescent bulb and compact florescent.
Volunteers, wearing safety orange t-shirts, staffed the IEEE-USA booth–handing out approximately 12,000 bookmarks, with web addresses and other helpful information; 1,000 pens; 3,000 stickers, and other items with the IEEE-USA logo–to eager students and visitors.
Out-of-town visitors stopped by from Tanzania, Russia, Egypt, Japan, South Korea, India–and places in between. Students who had come to the 2011 Science & Engineering Festival returned to the IEEE-USA booth this year, remembering the great time they’d had at last year’s festival. A webcam broadcast the action to friends in Europe, Honduras, and other parts of the globe.
Both girls and boys enjoyed time with the dynamo.
And the IEEE Global History Network shared two banners, providing the perfect backdrop for photos throughout the Festival.
Dusty Fisher was IEEE-USA’s team leader for the 2012 USA Science & Engineering Festival.
