About Us
What is the San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering?
The San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering (formerly known as the San Diego Science Festival) features a week of interactive demonstrations, hands-on activities and dynamic speakers to engage kids and families in science and engineering. Festival organizer UC San Diego is partnering with hundreds of community businesses and organizations to present more than 35 events throughout the county from March 17-24, culminating in EXPO DAY at PETCO Park on March 24. More than 55,000 kids, parents, scientists, educators and community members are expected to participate in Festival events.
Mission
Our mission is to engage kids in science and engineering.
Goals
Organized by the University of California, San Diego, the Festival partners with numerous corporate sponsors, individual donors and community collaborators to:
- Raise awareness of the importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education and to inspire San Diego’s youth to pursue education and careers in these rewarding fields;
- Showcase the remarkable science and engineering community of our region, and to give students an opportunity to talk with real scientists and engineers; and
- Help seed new science and engineering festivals across the nation.
What's the difference between the San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering and the Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair? See a comparison document outlining the differences.
History
San Diego County has earned a reputation as a hotbed of activity in science, biotech, engineering and medicine. However, research has shown that there is a shortage of students entering Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering, inspired by international science festivals and driven by the vision of local entrepreneur Larry Bock, together with UC san Diego faculty, was created to get kids excited about STEM fields and demonstrate why science and engineering are important in their lives.
Entrepreneur Larry Bock and the Inspiration for the San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering
A serial entrepreneur in the life sciences, Larry Bock has founded, co-founded or financed early stage growth of 40 companies. However, he found that he could no longer hire Americans to fill positions in the companies he was putting together.
In an interview for the Forbes/Wolfe Emerging Tech Report, Bock said: “When I took my family abroad, I saw these wonderful international science festivals—in particular the Cambridge, UK festival, the Edinburgh festival, and the Italian and Indian festivals—that have been going on for years. These festivals had not yet come to the U.S. (two were in formation on the East Coast), so I thought, ‘Ok, I want to create the largest science festival on the West Coast.”
Partnering with more than 100 collaborators—including lead organizer UC San Diego and faculty members Loren Thompson and Jeremy Babendure—Bock implemented the first San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering (originally launched as the San Diego Science Festival) in 2009 with great success. The inaugural festival included more than 500 free events and drew more than 50,000 visitors to the first EXPO DAY.
“We could not have imagined how well the people of San Diego and the biotechnology and technology communities would embrace our efforts to highlight continued education in the sciences,” said Bock. “It appears we hit on something the public very much wants.”
Today, the annual San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering draws over 55,000 students, parents, scientists, educators and other community members to experience how scientific discoveries and research affect our daily lives—inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers.
The National Science Foundation Grant and the Science Festival Alliance
When the San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering was just getting started in 2008, the founders looked to the Cambridge Science Festival, which is run out of the MIT Museum in Massachusetts, for guidance. The collaboration proved to be extremely valuable for both organizations, and in 2009 the National Science Foundation provided funding for a network that would generate similar exchanges between festival professionals: The Science Festival Alliance. The goal of the Science Festival Alliance is to empower communities to step up and create sustainable celebrations that are of and for their own regions.
Collaborators and Sponsors
The San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering is organized by UC San Diego with collaboration from more than 150 leading science and engineering organizations and community members including CONNECT, General Atomics, San Diego State University and other key local organizations and media partners. Many of San Diego’s school districts have also partnered with the Festival, such as San Diego Unified School District, Poway Unified School District, Oceanside School District, San Dieguito Union High School District, Grossmont Union High School District and Sweetwater Union High School District, to name a few.
We also thank our corporate sponsors, including Life Technologies, the National Science Foundation, Celgene, Gen-Probe and many others who make the San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering possible. Click here to see the full list.
