Dozens of Memphis Community Partners Team Up to Provide Valuable Insight into the World of STEAM
October 6, 2021- Memphis, TN – The Museum of Science and History (MoSH) has announced its inaugural MoSH STEAMFest on October 23, featuring booths, talks, presentations, and demonstrations from a wide range of community partners with a focus on the importance of STEAM and STEAM Career paths.
“We are so grateful to the Memphis business and nonprofit community for coming together for this special event for students of all ages,” says Kevin Thompson, Executive Director of MoSH. “STEAM subjects are not only an important element in the education of our young people, but a crucial hiring need for businesses and nonprofits.”
The MoSH STEAMFest is presented alongside the statewide Tennessee STEAM Festival, which aspires to build interest and excitement in STEAM subjects and cultivate the next generation of citizen and professional science advocates and practitioners.
Exciting exhibits and demonstration areas will give local businesses, colleges/universities and community partners a chance to show how science and the arts play a role in everything they do, whether it’s exploring spacetime, building KNex cars, creating an MRI, or using engineering in a variety of industries. A sampling of exhibits, demonstrations and presentations includes:
- American Society of Civil Engineers: Visitors will learn how to build a KNex car and collect the information needed to calculate distance.
- Bearden Company/Deep Delta Films: The writer-filmmaker’s work will be on display, and Bearden will demonstrate how to edit videos on smartphones.
- Center of Earthquake Research and Information (CERI) at the University of Memphis: Earthquake-related equipment and shake table.
- City of Memphis Division of Engineering: Earthquake simulator, visitors can build things to test their ability to withstand an earthquake.
- Christian Brothers University: Demonstrations from the Chemical Engineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering departments will include a seismic shake table, drones and a go cart project.
- FedEx: FedEx will be hosting a FedEx Lounge featuring videos of Roxo the SameDay bot, demonstrations of SenseAware ID, the FedEx sensor technology, and other activities.
- LeMoyne-Owen College Science on Wheels: Hands-on science activities on board the Science on Wheels Mobile Science lab. Activities will be suitable for ages 4 years old and up.
- Pickering Engineering: Participants can build a spoon catapult. This will be simple for all ages, made of household materials (popsicle sticks, spoon, etc.).
- Rhodes College: The Rhodes College CubeSat Team will have two outreach activities: a demonstration of spacetime using a spandex sheet and a demonstration of solar cells and the variables that affect their output current and voltage, including the type of connection (parallel or series) and wavelengths of incident light.
- University of Memphis Biomedical Engineering Department: Compass needle and magnet experiments to demonstrate the principle behind the science of seeing inside the body using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
In addition to the STEAMFest booths, there will be food trucks. For a full list of participating community partners and their STEAM-based demonstrations, visit MoSHMemphis.com/mosh-steamfest.
