College of DuPage to Host Inaugural STEM-CON Event April 30

College of DuPage will host its inaugural STEM-CON, a free, fun interactive event celebrating science, technology, engineering and math, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 30, on the College's main campus, 425 Fawell Blvd., in Glen Ellyn. Click here for directions.

This event is free and open to the public.

Aimed primarily at high school and middle school students but open to all College and community members, this event will feature a broad range of activities, including a keynote talk, "Reprogramming Your Brain to Master STEM," by internationally-recognized former rocket scientist, STEM advocate and educator Olympia LePoint. During her presentation, LePoint will discuss the issues and limitations related to the fear of math, how to overcome that fear and how to unlock the keys to success in STEM fields.

Additional speakers will include nanomaterials researcher, educator and master science communicator Dr. Diandra Leslie-Pelecky and her presentation "The Physics of NASCAR" with a race car on display and a cryogenics demonstration with Fermilab's "Mr. Freeze."

In addition, STEM-CON will feature numerous opportunities for hands-on, interactive experiences through demonstrations and experiments designed to inform, entertain and spark interest in a variety of STEM topics, including exclusive video game coding classes, fossil formation, Lego robots, nanotechnology, prairie ecology and restoration, probiotics, river system development, robotics demonstrations, a weather balloon launch with real-time flight monitoring and the physics of flight with a real airplane on display.

Representatives from COD, as well as a wide range of STEM-based organizations and institutions, including American Surplus and Science, Argonne National Laboratory and Fermilab will be on hand to provide information and answer questions about education, innovations and careers in the STEM fields.

While registration for this event is not required, some activities require participants to sign up upon arrival at STEM-CON.

Refreshments will be available for purchase onsite during the event.

For more information about STEM-CON, click here or email stemcon@cod.edu.

STEM-CON is funded by a grant from the Illinois Community College Board and funded partially through the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006.