YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- It’s not quite walking on water, but the non-Newtonian fluid that will fill a tank being prepared in the Oh Wow! Center downtown will allow people to dash across it – assuming they can do that fast enough to not break surface tension.
The tank represents one of the exhibits and demonstrations to be presented during this year’s Silly Science Sunday, which will cap the 7 Days of STEM Youngstown Regional Science & Technology Festival that kicks off Monday.
The weeklong series of events will highlight venues such as Oh Wow! The Roger & Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science & Technology and other resources where children, adults and families can explore various aspects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
“We want to raise awareness about all of the STEM educational opportunities in our community, not just for students but for adults as well,” says Katie Seminara, assistant manager of Oh Wow!
Community awareness and interest in STEM is growing with the presence of America Makes, formerly known as the National Additive Manufacturing Information Institute, and the Youngstown State University College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Seminara says.
“Excitement has started to build but there’s still a lot of things people don’t know exist,” such as the Oak Hill Maker Space, which opened in recent months, she notes. After three years of operation, Oh Wow! still receives visitors who only recently learned about the science center.
“This will be a great way to learn about what kinds of offerings there are in the community as far as science and technology,” said Alexa Sweeney Blackann, a member of the Oh Wow! board serving on the festival committee.
Events like 7 Days of STEM are important because they provide an opportunity to discuss “what the future is going to look like” and the skill sets needed to fill the jobs of the future, said Sweeney Blackann, business manager for Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC in Boardman.
The connection between art and technology, to be highlighted next week at the Butler Institute of American Art, was among the relationships she finds most surprising. “Art and technology is not something you think of,” she remarked.
Sweeney Blackann is pleased with how the community came together to organize the event, “everyone from the Butler to the Kitchen Incubator,” she adds.
Seminara says she hopes to draw 5,000 participants to the events being held throughout the week. Silly Science Sunday, which takes place Sept. 21, typically draws 2,500 attendees, but with the event being offered for free this year she expects attendance to hit 5,000.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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