Changing the Equation: San Diego Science Festival
Receives National Recognition for Advancing STEM Education

Kristin Luciani | Oct. 11, 2010

The San Diego Science Festival and Agilent Technologies, a major sponsor of the Festival, were recently recognized for their efforts to increase student interest and achievement in science education by President Obama’s nationwide “Change the Equation (CTEq)” initiative, which seeks to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in the United States. Established in 2009, the San Diego Science Festival’s mission is to focus awareness on the importance of STEM education among San Diego’s youth, and to inspire them to pursue careers in these rewarding fields. Organized by the University of California, San Diego and community collaborators, the Festival is the largest celebration of science on the West Coast.  The 2011 Science Festival will take place March 19-26, offering engaging, hands-on science activities and demonstrations to excite the minds of students, families and members of the community.

The first annual San Diego Science Festival, held in spring 2009, featured activities that reached more than 75,000 individuals—including 50,000 who attended the inaugural Expo Day at Balboa Park. A huge success, the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $3 million grant to UC San Diego and alliance partners to fund year-round Science Festival efforts.  In addition to San Diego, the grant supports three other Festival sites: San Francisco through UC San Francisco; Cambridge, Massachusetts, through the MIT Museum; and Philadelphia through The Franklin Institute.

To ensure that the Science Festival mission is practiced throughout the year, UC San Diego’s ScienceBridge facilitates a variety of innovative, hands-on activities that bring cutting-edge science into the classroom. With outreach programs in middle and high schools across the county, ScienceBridge is dedicated to preparing the next generation of science leaders.  

CTEq is a nonprofit, non-partisan, CEO-led initiative to improve STEM education for every child, with a particular focus on girls and students of color. To learn more about CTEq, visit www.changetheequation.org.

To learn more about the San Diego Science Festival, visit www.sdsciencefestival.com.