Washington, DC--The Optical Society (OSA) will serve as a partner and exhibitor in the USA Science and Engineering Festival set to take place in Washington, DC, this weekend (April 28–29). There, OSA volunteers will perform education demonstrations in the Festival's "Big Top Physics" tent, a joint project between OSA, the American Physical Society, the American Association of Physics Teachers, the Acoustical Society of America, the Society of Physics Students, and the University of Maryland’s Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) program.
The all-ages Festival features more than 3,000 exhibitors, 33 author presentations, and more than 100 stage shows, as well as science celebrity appearances by Bill Nye the Science Guy, Mayim Bialik from The Big Bang Theory, and Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman from MythBusters. The organizers expect approximately 10,000 visitors over the course of the festival, which will be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
The Festival's 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 festival in the United States."
Other ways that OSA supports youth education programs include their OPTICSforKIDS.org website and the distribution of complimentary pre-college educational materials to educators and parents.
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