K’NEX Education™ to Exhibit at the USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo in Washington, DC, an Event to Inspire Kids to Explore STEM Careers
Hatfield, PA (PRWEB) April 10, 2014 -- K’NEX Education™, America’s STEM Building Solution, will be participating in the 3rd USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo and Book Fair, hosted by founding and presenting sponsor Lockheed Martin®. Designed to inspire the next generation of innovators, the Festival Expo is a family-friendly expo that allows kids and adults to participate in more than 3,000 hands-on activities, and see more than 100 live stage performances.
“The USA Science and Engineering festival, an event designed to inspire kids to explore STEM careers, is the perfect opportunity for kids to get hands-on with our fun and educational building sets,” said Michael Araten, President and CEO of K’NEX Brands. “The K’NEX Education line is focused on building the leaders of tomorrow, and provides teachers with a complete STEM solution enabling them to teach critical concepts in sequences that build upon each other and can be used with real-world applications. STEM is the heart of innovation and innovation drives growth, profit and jobs of the future.”
The Festival Expo, which takes place at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in DC on April 26 and 27h from 9 a.m. -6 p.m. Eastern Time, is the grand finale of the Festival’s year-long science celebration. Taking the entire convention center, the Festival Expo will also have a Career Pavilion, Book Fair - complete with signings by well-known science authors, and multiple competitions such as EPA P3’s sustainability challenge. In all, the Festival expects more than 250,000 people to participate.
The K’NEX Education Build and Learn Zone invites kids of all ages to have fun with hands-on learning while designing, building, investigating, problem solving, and evaluating scientific and design principles in action using K’NEX® Rods, Connectors, Gears, Tires and Hubs at interactive building stations! Children will have the opportunity to chat with some of the designers and engineers who make America’s favorite construction toy, while parents explore the retail shop. Teachers are also encouraged to stop by and learn how K’NEX Education building sets can complement their STEM curriculum. Attendees will also have the opportunity to build a free K’NEX key chain, take part in the “Guess the Number of Parts” contest for a chance to win a K’NEX set valued at $999.99, and help build a 6.5 ft x 9 ft American flag! A fully functioning 10' Roller Coaster and 6' Ferris Wheel will also be on display.
The USA Science and Engineering Festival features science celebrities, explorers, astronauts, athletes, authors, and experts in fields like robotics, genomics, medicine, advanced manufacturing, and even 3D printing. Participating celebrities include:
• Dirty Job’s Mike Rowe (Discovery Channel)
• Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• Bill Nye the Science Guy
• Grammy Award-Winners “They Might Be Giants”
• Author and Illustrator David Macaulay
• Author and Actress (Wonder Years) Danica McKeller
• Miss California Crystal Lee (Stanford grad, Miss USA Runner Up, and STEM advocate)
• Design Squad’s Nate Bell (PBS)
• Illusionist Apollo Robbins
• Stuck with Hackett’s Chris Hackett (Science Channel)
• “Super Woman of Big-Wave Surfing” Maya Gabeira
• MoneyBall’s Paul Depodesta
• Cast and crew from TV Shows like Big Bang Theory, House and Breaking Bad
Among its themes this year is a focus on encouraging diversity in STEM careers. Also with more than three million unfilled jobs that require STEM experience, the event is highlighting skills based and “do-it-yourself” professions — with the help of Mike Rowe — to emphasize the dire need for skilled workers. In addition, the Festival is showcasing new technologies and their applications.
Founded by serial entrepreneur Larry Bock and Lockheed Martin CTO Ray O. Johnson to address the severe shortage in science and tech talent, the USA Science & Engineering Festival is the nation’s largest science festival, and was developed to ignite the next generation’s interest in considering careers in science and engineering. In recognition of the Festival’s role in making STEM a national priority, Congress recently designated the last week in April as “National Science Week” and made the Festival a focal point.
“Science is amazing…that’s our message to kids and adults attending the Festival. Staying competitive as a nation means we have to encourage more kids to think about careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). What better way to capture their imaginations than gathering the rock stars of science in one place and providing activities they can really do?” explained Larry Bock, Festival co-founder.
To learn more, visit http://www.USAScienceFestival.org or watch the video at http://www.usasciencefestival.org/festival-highlight-video.
About K’NEX Brands
Founded in 1992, K’NEX Brands, the world’s most innovative construction toy company, was established to make and sell what has become one of the world’s leading integrated construction systems for children, and is America’s STEM building solution. Winner of over 250 international awards and recognitions, K’NEX, America’s Building Toy® company, is focused on Building Worlds Kids Love® and encourages youngsters to “imagine, build and play.” From the living room to the classroom, K’NEX has building toys specially designed for every age group and skill level. The K’NEX family of brands includes K’NEX Building Sets, K’NEX Thrill Rides, K’NEX Education™, Lincoln Logs®, Tinkertoy®, NASCAR®, Angry Birds™, Mario Kart Wii™, Mario Kart 7™, Super Mario™, PacMan™, Titanfall™, Family Guy™, Plants vs. Zombies™, and more. Since 1992, The Rodon Group®, a subsidiary of K'NEX Brands, L.P., has manufactured over 31 billion parts for the K'NEX building toy system. Join us as we help build the leaders of tomorrow. For more information, please visit http://www.knex.com or http://www.rodongroup.com.
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Kate Loffio, K'NEX Brands, http://www.knex.com, +1 (215) 996-4209, [email protected]
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