N.C. Science Festival to feature University Expo, workshops and ‘Brewing Science’
April marks the return of the statewide N.C. Science Festival (NCSF), a month-long celebration of science and public engagement in STEM fields. UNC Charlotte, for the eighth year, will participate in the festival’s mind-expanding public activities.
UNC Charlotte’s Science and Technology Expo is scheduled for noon to 4 p.m., Sunday, April 28, and it remains the University’s largest NCSF event and its grand finale.
As part of the 2019 festival, UNC Charlotte is offering a nine-event series of kid-stimulating science and technology workshops on most of the month’s weekends. And, new this year, the University is brewing up something expressly for adults: a scientific look at craft beer.
The Science and Technology Expo will include an ever-expanding set of activities, including robotics, rocketry, virtual people, live animals, lab experiments, explosive chemistry, exotic plants, fire engines, race cars, boats, and a lifelike machine or two. An event for the science-curious of all ages, the Expo will feature more than 100 hands-on activities and presentations. Many of these offer public-friendly glimpses into some more-than-cool current research work, developed by UNC Charlotte science and technology departments and labs.
The Expo, however, has grown to be much more than a showcase of University expertise. A host of industry and community organizations also are involved in what is now a regional festival of ingenuity and education. Among this year’s partnering organizations are STEM-oriented institutions such as, the Carolina Raptor Center, Great Outdoors University (N.C. Wildlife Federation), Charlotte IoT, NASCAR Hall of Fame, N.C. First and First Tech Challenge Robotics (100 Black Men of Charlotte). A number of K-12 schools participate as well, showcasing creative STEM activities going on in local classrooms. Finally, a number of North Carolina-based industries and educational institutions are involved, including CPCC and Johnson & Wales University-Charlotte (JWU-Charlotte).
As the Expo has grown, a number of distinctive “shows within the show” have developed, including chemistry professor Tom “Dr. Boom” Schmedake’s always popular Combustion Chemistry Show, a special Robotics Expo inside the adjacent Popp Martin Student Union, and, returning by popular demand, a chef from JWU-Charlotte will explore the anatomical science and culinary art of barbecue in a series of “Science of Meat” demonstrations/performances. A food truck will supply free samples after each show. Visitors can follow up the snacks with Nanodot Ice Cream, produced by UNC Charlotte’s Chemistry Department.
The UNC Charlotte Science and Technology Expo will be located on the University’s lower mall, across from the Popp Martin Student Union and adjacent to Halton Arena/Barnhardt Student Activity Center. The event is free and open to the public, and all campus parking is free on Sundays (the Student Union Deck is the recommended parking venue).
Other N.C. Science Festival events at UNC Charlotte
UNC Charlotte continues to offer an extensive (nine-event) series of full-day educational workshops for children, priced at a nominal fee, on topics sure to engage learning. The workshops are designed to provide age-flexible, high teacher-student ratio learning experiences that kids and parents can have together. All workshops require advance registration