San Diego Science Festival Aims to Bring
Excitement of Science to Area Students, Community
Theme of Inaugural Event to Focus on How Science Impacts People's Lives

Ioana Patringenaru | February 23, 2009

Have you ever wanted to have lunch with a Nobel Laureate? Are you curious about the science behind some of Harry Potter’s magic? How about the chemistry behind a good wine, or delicious chocolate?

If you want answers to these questions—and more—come to the first-ever San Diego Science Festival, which will take place across San Diego County starting in March, culminating with a large-scale expo in Balboa Park April 4. Before the expo, scientists will fan out to a variety of schools to share their knowledge with students. Universities, corporations and many other organizations also will host science-themed events open to the public.

Students will come to college campuses to take part in many activities.

The festival’s theme is “The Science of You: How Science Impacts Your Life.” Activities are grouped in several categories, including “Your Body,” “Your Future” and “Your Planet.” Highlights include a chocolate tasting and discussion by UCSD alumnus Michael Antonorsi and UCSD Professor of Medicine Franciso Villarreal; an invitation-only magic show exploring the scientific principles behind some of Harry Potter’s tricks; a talk on the benefits of napping by UCSD researcher Sara Mednick; and much, much more.

UC San Diego’s BioBridge, a science education and outreach program that works with several county school districts, has taken the lead in organizing the festival in collaboration with the San Diego Science Alliance, Connect, Biocom and other key organizations.

The festival will give UCSD an unprecedented opportunity to connect with a large number of students and their teachers with cutting-edge science, said Loren Thompson, assistant vice chancellor of student educational advancement, who oversees several science education and outreach programs, including BioBridge. “We want schools and scientists to make a connection,” he said.

Reports by the National Academy of Sciences have shown how important it is to encourage more students to study math and science and  produce the next generation of researchers and innovators, said Mark Thiemens, dean of UCSD's Division of Physical Sciences, who has acted as an advisor for the Science Festival. "Giving young people and their parents first-hand experience with researchers and research can help dispel myths about science and scientists and generate excitement about science," he explained.

It's also important to give all citizens the tools they need to make informed decisions about energy, climate change, water resources and the many other issues that affect all of us, Thiemens said.

The festival also will provide the campus with a great opportunity to educate San Diego residents about the impact of science on their everyday life and what they can do to support research and educational institutions, said Thompson, the assistant vice chancellor.

Larry Bock, who describes himself as a serial entrepreneur, is one of the festival's main organizers.

The idea for the festival originated with Larry Bock, now one of the festival’s main organizers. Bock, who describes himself as a serial entrepreneur, recently took his family to live in London for a year. There, they attended a science festival. Bock said he knew he wanted to reproduce the event in the United States. As an entrepreneur, he was painfully aware that hiring and retaining employees in high tech has become increasingly difficult. Americans are just not going into high-tech fields, he said. Foreigners who work for U.S. companies now often can find competitive job opportunities abroad.

“I fundamentally believe that you can’t afford to outsource innovation,” Bock said. “Once you do that, the game is over.”

He later found out science festivals already exist in New York and Boston, but not on the West Coast. Back in San Diego, where he now lives, Bock set out to make the science festival a reality here. He connected with UCSD’s BioBridge. Soon, more than 125 organizations had come together to work on the festival, from universities, to corporations and professional organizations.

“It’s gratifying to see how much of a magnetic force this has been,” Bock said.

The festival has a $750,000 budget for its operations, funded by corporate sponsors, including Lockheed Martin, the ResMed Foundation, the Farrell Family Foundation and a who’s who of the life sciences and biotech industries, including Genentech, Gen-Probe, Agilent and Qualcomm. In addition, more than 350 organizations will provide about $15 million worth of programming as in-kind contributions.

The monthlong event will unfold in three phases. First, more than 100 scientists, including many UCSD faculty, will visit schools around San Diego County. Thompson, the UCSD assistant vice chancellor, said that he hopes some schools will adopt scientists for long-term relationships as a result. In addition, more than 50 of San Diego’s technology companies will put on the San Diego Science Alliance’s High Tech Fair for middle and high school students with various science exhibitions.  

Then, the community will be invited to visit campuses, companies and other organizations for science-themed programs. For example, UCSD’s department of nanoegineering will host a daylong program dubbed “Small Wonders.” Students will learn about a new technological revolution driven by nanotechnology and other material sciences, which scientists say will usher in a new “age of Advanced Materials.” Meanwhile, the Marine Corps Air Station at Miramar will open its doors for hands-on demonstrations and tours of aircraft, crash, fire and rescue vehicles. Many more events will take place in March and early April.

Students who are part of the BioBridge program conduct hands-on experiments in the classroom.

Finally, organizers invite everyone in San Diego County and beyond to Balboa Park, where a science expo will take place both indoors and outdoors. The day’s activities will include workshops, behind-the-scenes tours, talks, performances and film screenings, geared toward families and grown-ups alike. Thompson said BioBridge is working with school districts to bus in thousands of students to the Expo.

Students from 40 schools already are at work prepping one of the day’s activities. They’re creating a giant game of “Operation” under the supervision of the UCSD Biomedical Engineering Society. Each school works on a different part of the game, which consists of an operating table, decorated with the likeness of a patient with a red light bulb for a nose. On the table’s surface are a number of openings, in which lie imaginary ailments, such as a broken heart and butterflies in the stomach, made of white plastic. The goal of the game is to remove the ailments without touching the margins of the openings, which causes the patient’s nose to light up. The game will be assembled for the day of the expo, Bock said.

He said he hopes the monthlong activities would draw about 250,000 visitors. The goal is to make the festival an annual event in San Diego. “We want to leverage the enthusiasm of thousands of students every year,” Assistant Vice Chancellor Thompson said.