Engineering and Science Festival Schedule

While many activities are drop-in, some are at scheduled times. All activities will wrap by 3:00 p.m., if not earlier. 

• • Division of Aeronautics – All Ages
    Exploring Careers in Aviation
  • Science Olympiad – Ages 6+
    Science Olympiad, A STEM competition for grades 6 – 12 hosted by Boise State University
  • Boise State Physics + AstroTAC Activities – All Ages
    Ready to learn about space and its planets? Come join us for some fun interactive activities like build your own planet bracelets and more.
  • Linguistics department at Boise State – All Ages
    “Language Sciences”; Booth with several language puzzles and explanations about linguistics and language sciences.
  • Idaho National Laboratory (INL) – All Ages
    Festival Sponsor Information Booth
  • Mathnasium of Boise – All Ages
    Math tricks + prize wheel. We’re all about making learning approachable and fun, so we’d love to show students a math trick at their level to impress their friends with!
  • Chemistry and Biochemistry – Ages 5+
    Pollutants in the Environment
  • EFx Boise – All Ages
    Information Booth
  • Verizon – All Ages
    Festival Sponsor Information Booth
  • Boise State University CAST – All Ages
    A STEM challenge focused on engineering and earthquakes
  • Girl Scouts of Silver Sage – All Ages
    “Create and Innovate: Finding Creative Solutions to Make the World a Better Place”; Participants will first identify a problem in their world they would like to address. They will then use the provided craft materials to create a protype of their invention that addresses the issue.
  • Department of Computer Science – All Ages
    Coding on small robots
  • Children’s Museum of Idaho – All Ages
    STEM building activities
  • NASA Challenge Teams at Boise State University – Ages 13+
    Mixed reality, machine learning, and robotics showcases from the SUITS, SPOTR, and BENDER challenge teams at Boise State University.

• • Fives Designs – Ages 3-9+
    Fives Designs mosaic tile building area, where art and building reach life-size proportions. Kids will use FIVEs tiles to build large 2D images.

• • Hatch A
    Idaho Power – All Ages
    45 minute sessions all day, starting at the top of the hour
    The Shocking Truth About Electricity – High Voltage Electricity Demonstration
  • Hatch B
    Reuseum Educational, Inc. – Ages 5+
    All day until supplies are exhausted, 45 min sessions
    SuperBristelBot Robots
  • Hatch C
    City of Boise – All Ages
    Geothermal and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at City of Boise – Learn how Public Works at City of Boise harnesses geothermal energy for heating. Sharpen your mapping skills with the City’s IT mapping specialists.
  • Hatch D
    National Interagency Fire Center – All Ages
    “Remote Automatic Weather Station Demonstration”. Weather plays an important role in wildland fire management. Learn how remote automatic weather stations (RAWS) operate and how they are used to support wildfire and all-hazard incidents.

• • 10:30am  Dean JoAnn Lighty – All Ages
    Welcome to Engineering:  A short overview of the College of Engineering here at Boise State followed by a Q&A. Topics include programs offered, scholarships, and opportunities.
  • 12:00pm  David Rush – All Ages
    Since last time he spoke at the festival, David has broken over 100 Guinness World Records, been on America’s Got Talent (twice!), TODAY Show, Live! with Kelly and Ryan, the Tamron Hall Show and his records have been featured on the likes of Jimmy Fallon, James Corden, Mr. Beast, Ellen, Seth Meyers, and he was awarded Idaho Business Review’s Accomplished under 40. His company, Cradlepoint also had the largest startup technology exit in Idaho’s history valued at $1.1B. Come listen to his STEM-inspired talk with new content galore.
  • 1:30pm  Brian Jackson – All Ages
    Distant Worlds: Astronomy Research and Citizen Science at Boise State

• • Rapid Aerial LLC – Ages 5+
    What can you do with a drone? Combination of hands on and static drone display, showing the different uses of drones.
  • FIRST Idaho Robotics – All Ages
    FLL, FTC and FRC robotics programs. Demonstrations from local FIRST LEGO League, FIRST TECH Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition teams.
  • Federal Highway Administration – all ages but 14-15 preferred (new drivers)
    Seat Belt Demonstration
  • WTS TransportationYOU – All Ages
    Booth
  • Idaho Lego Users Group – Ages 7-17
    Lego Tower Build challenge
  • Open Lab Idaho/V.E.R.N. – All Ages
    We’ll be demonstrating at least one 150 pound robot and have a hands on make and take activity promoting potential to kinetic energy.
  • STARBASE Idaho – Ages 5-18
    Molecular Modeling and Exploration

• • MCMR Lobby
    Nuclear Engineering Club (Materials Science and Engineering) – All Ages
    Radiation demonstration (non-dangerous) using a small sample of Americium and a geiger counter.
  • MCMR 105
    Electrical and Computer Engineering – Ages 5+
    SnapCircuits and electrical demonstrations
  • MCMR 106
    The Discovery Center of Idaho – Ages 7-12
    All day: 5-10 minutes table
    Discover the art and math of paper folding with origami!
  • MCMR Lab 126
    Surface Science Lab (Boise State MSMSE) – All Ages
    Beyond the Looking Glass: Seeing at the Nanoscale
  • MCMR 199h and the 1st floor research wing hallway
    Quantum DNA Research Group (Boise State MSMSE) -Ages 8+
    3 Activities: (i) quantum information demo, including spinning coin, (ii) liquid nitrogen demo, including ping-pong ball, and (iii) laser demo, including laser game

• • MCMR 205
    Boise State Chemistry Department – All Ages
    45-minute shows; 10 am, 12 pm, 2 pm
    The Dr. Picklestein Science Quiz: Bring your brain as there will be an assortment of fun puzzles will be presented to the audience to solve. There will be some random explosions too.
  • MCMR 2nd floor labs and 200a conference room
    Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering – All Ages
    We will use the undergraduate lab to hold a “you are already a materials engineer” booth, with hands on demonstrations and experiences.

• • RUCH 103
    MSMSE – Ages 9th-12th grade
    Entropy in materials
  • RUCH LAB 108
    Boise State Center for Materials Characterization – Ages 8+
    Bugs Under a Microscope! (Experience the power of electron microscopes by looking at bugs under extremely high magnifications)
  • RUCH 110
    National Weather Science – All Ages
    45 min sessions: 10:30am, 11:30am, 1pm, 2pm
    Meteorologists will discuss the science of extreme weather in the context of a “Weather Jeopardy” game. Two teams will compete to be the Weather Jeopardy Champions and various scientific weather demonstrations will be conducted during the course of the game. Weather safety information will be provided in a fun and interactive way.

• • RUCH 213/214 computer lab
    Health Wise – Ages 8+
    Introduction to Computer Programming with Scratch
  • RUCH 238 – computer lab
    Code Ninjas – Ages 8+
    Time TBD
    Teaching kids to code a retro arcade game using Microsoft MakeCode

• • RUCH 313
    Idaho Department of Environmental Quality – Ages 5-14
    45 min sessions: 10am, 11am, 1pm, 2pm
    Incredible, Edible Aquifer: Learn how ground water is stored in aquifers, how what we do can affect our groundwater and drinking water, and how good engineering helps keep our water clean.

• MEC 114
  Engineering and Innovation Living Learning Community (EIC) at BSU – Ages 5+
  Catapult Activity

• • Engineering Innovation Studio – All Ages
    Learn about how things are made with 3D Printers, CNC Mill, Lathe, and MORE!
  • Civil Engineering – ASCE Student Chapter Timber Strong Delicate (Taylor’s Version) – All Ages
    When the Ground Moves: Come check out our large and small shake tables to understand how ground movement can affect structures. We will demonstrate liquefaction and seismic activity.
  • New Product Development Lab at TechHelp and Studio\Blu – Ages 5+
    A booth with 3D printers, marble track for students to build and test.
  • Civil Engineering Department – Environmental Engineering Club Filter Competition (Teardrops on My Guitar) – All Ages
    Filter It!: Learn the basics of water filtration and build your own water filter. Until we run out of materials.
  • Civil Engineering Steel Bridge Club – Ages 5+
    Steel Bridge Building: Come see the AISC 2023 competition winning steel bridge and try your lot at building a piece or two.
  • Civil Engineering Club – All ages
    Traffic Jam: Learn about transportation engineering by playing the game, Rush Hour. If you like puzzles, this is for you! All Ages, All Day
  • Civil Engineering Club – All ages
    Bowling with Concrete: Are you a fan of bowling and science? Come check out the concrete bowling ball team and try out a few concrete bowling ball models.
  • Civil Engineering Department – Ages 6+
    Turn Up the Pressure: Learn how we test materials for strength in civil engineering and see the largest Universal Testing Machine in Idaho. You can even make your own specimen to have tested by Boise State civil engineering students and faculty.

• • ERB South Patio
    Boise State Geosciences – All Ages
    Every hour on the half hour: 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30
    Trash can volcanoes. This demonstration will be held OUTSIDE the ERB (south side of the building).
  • ERB South Patio
    Boise State Geosciences – All Ages
    Every hour on the hour: 10 am, 11 am, 12 pm, 1 pm, 2 pm
    Greenhouse Gas Tag.
  • ERB Patio
    Boise State Geosciences – All Ages
    Fossils and Ancient Earth (leader: Dan Luna). This will run continuously.
  • ERB Lobby
    Boise State Geosciences – All Ages
    CO2 and ocean acidification. This activity will run continuously, but there might be several breaks.
  • ERB Lobby
    Boise State Geosciences – All Ages
    Table-top volcanoes. This activity will run continuously, but there might be several breaks.
  • ERB Lobby
    Boise State Geosciences – All Ages
    You Are What You Eat: isotopic analysis (nitrogen and carbon) of fingernails

• • MakerLab custom – All Ages
    Carpenter pencil carving workshop as well as MakerLab (3D printing) tours

• Stein Luminary – ages 5+
  10 am-3 pm
  The Keith and Catherine Stein Luminary is an all-digital museum space that projects 47 million pixels at 10K lumens onto touch-activated screens. Interact with high-resolution content from the latest in 3-D imaging, infrared lens captures, and gesture responses. Come magnify your science, and touch the art!

Alternating every half hour starting at 10 am:

Space Telescope
Ephemeral Moves
BASH 3D! Protein Molecules vs. Art Technologies

• Blue Galleries – ages 12+
  10 am-3 pm
  The Blue Galleries are an accessible artistic hub on the first floor of the Center for the Visual Arts that host contemporary visual art exhibitions and related programming to engage diverse audiences.
• Alex Wiseman
  Invisible Family (Portraits): Smoke is a Prayer Transforming the Truth
  The Blue Galleries presents Invisible Family (Portraits): Smoke is a Prayer Transforming the Truth, a project described by artist Alex Wiseman as a weaving of time and space, of histories rendered invisible and of futures to be determined by the capacity of our hearts to reckon with them. The artist’s Chippewa (Ojibwa / Anishinaabeg) relatives have woven baskets for centuries; likewise, this work functions as a basket, embodying and containing reminders and artifacts that stitch together this question of our shared future.
• Emily Somoskey
  All Encompassing
  The works in the exhibition utilize paint and collaged photographic imagery as a means to think through the larger questions, curiosities, and areas of subjectivity that make up our world. Somoskey’s work depicts the universe as a flexible space that is ever-expanding, collapsing, and colliding, along with our understanding of it. She brings familiar subjects such as swimming pools, bird nests and lawn chairs in conversation with overarching mechanisms that make up our world, such as galaxies, orbital pathways and physics diagrams.
• 2024 Annual Student Juried Exhibition
  The Annual Student Juried Exhibition features work by thirty-four Boise State University students selected by this year’s juror, Emily Somosky, Assistant Professor of Art at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington.

HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE™ IN CONCERT – ages 8+
1 PM and 7:30 PM
Get ready to fight a dragon, swim with merpeople, and find out just who put Harry’s name in the Goblet of Fire™! For the first time ever, audiences can rediscover the magic of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire™ while a live symphony orchestra performs Patrick Doyle’s unforgettable score.

• • $5 off concert tickets -Valid on any ticket, excluding Price Level 1 tickets (Floor Rows AA-D; Mezzanine Rows A-B). Not valid on previously purchased tickets. Use code STEM to unlock the offer.

Buy Tickets Here