San Diego Science Festival
Announces 3rd Annual Event in March 2011

"Excite Your Mind" is the theme for a week of events to engage San Diego's youth in science, engineering and technology careers

January 18, 2011

By Kristin Luciani

The San Diego Science Festival, the largest celebration of science on the West Coast, returns this March with content-rich, interactive learning experiences for kids of all ages.

Bringing together hundreds of innovative local organizations and individuals, the San Diego Science Festival demonstrates that careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) are accessible and exciting pathways to a better future. This weeklong exploration of science, engineering and technology will begin March 19, 2011, and culminate with EXPO DAY at PETCO Park on March 26, 2011.

The Festival is organized by the University of California, San Diego and receives lead support from Life Technologies, the National Science Foundation, many local corporate sponsors and a wide array of K–12 and higher education institutions. Additionally, UC San Diego collaborates with more than 150 leading organizations and community members who offer their financial support and time. Educational support is provided by ScienceBridge, a UC San Diego science education outreach program.

“We are proud to be the lead organizer of the San Diego Science Festival. Our goal is to increase awareness about the importance of science and to show children of all ages how fun and meaningful STEM can be,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, who recently received the National Medal of Science from President Barack Obama. “We are incredibly grateful to the sponsors and collaborators who help make this interactive and inspiring community event possible.”

The Festival embraces the communities of science, engineering and technology to inspire the next generation of innovators and researchers by providing opportunities for students from all backgrounds to participate in hands-on activities, meet real scientists and engineers, and learn how recent discoveries and research affect our daily lives.
 
More than 75,000 kids, parents, scientists, educators and community members are expected to participate in Festival events throughout the county. The closing finale, EXPO DAY, draws more than 30,000 for an all-day interactive exploration of science, engineering and technology at PETCO Park. Below is a summary of signature events. For more details and a complete listing of events visit www.sdsciencefestival.com.  

• Science Family Day: March 19 – Balboa Park – 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Museums throughout the park will host family-friendly, hands-on activities. Find a science-inspired adventure at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, San Diego Air and Space Museum, Japanese Friendship Garden and other participating museums and cultural centers.

 

• Science of Brewing: March 21 – Ballast Point Brewery and Distillery – 5 p.m. Take a tour of Ballast Point Brewery and learn why good science is essential to good beer, and how careful science makes exceptional spirits. Admission is $10. Ages 21 and up only.

• Celebrating 50 years of Science: March 22 – Calit2, UC San Diego campus – 6 p.m. In celebration of UC San Diego’s 50th Anniversary, an expert alumni panel will discuss the increasingly critical role of STEM education to the nation’s future global competitiveness. Following the event will be a reception and tour of Calit2.

 

• EXPO DAY: March 26 – 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. – PETCO Park. EXPO DAY brings together over 135 interactive science activities and 12 stage performances for people of all ages and interest levels. Witness firsthand the process of building an underwater robot, finger-paint with algae, take an X-ray image of your backpack, find out how to protect our local bat population, or discover how microbes are used to clean up water.

 

The 2011 San Diego Science Festival is made possible by generous corporate sponsors and individual donors, including Life Technologies, the National Science Foundation, Celgene, Gen-Probe, Agilent Foundation, ResMed Inc., Sapphire Energy Inc., Think Blue—City of San Diego, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., Accelrys, Gilead Foundation, Pfizer Inc, SCE-San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, San Diego Gas & Electric, Science Applications International Corporation,  Sequenom Inc., BioAtla, Elsevier, EMD Millipore, Kaiser Permanente, NuVasive,  Scripps Health, San Diego Chapter of the National Defense Industrial Association, Novartis Institute for Functional Genomics Inc. and Genoptix.

Collaborators include Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Collegiate Confidence, CONNECT, Cymer, General Atomics, San Diego State University, Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair, Mad Science, Ruben H. Fleet Science Center, RunCoachJason, San Diego Coastkeeper, San Diego River Park Foundation, Senomyx, The Classical Academies, The Maritime Alliance, The Scripps Research Institute, Tijuana Estuary, UC San Diego Extension and the YMCA. For a complete list of collaborators, please visit www.sdsciencefestival.com/collaborators.

 

Media Contact:
Judy Piercey, 858-534-6128, jpiercey@ucsd.edu  

Kristin Luciani, 858-822-3353, kluciani@ucsd.edu