STEMFest - Explore,Invent,Create!

Explore, invent and create the world of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) that shapes our everyday lives at STEMFest 2019, a Roper Mountain Second Saturday event. Roper Mountain Science Center, local engineers, and professionals will celebrate all things STEAM with fun-filled hands-on activities for all ages including 3D printing, robots, power-tool drag races, coding, the science of music, making polymers and much more! STEMFest takes place at Roper Mountain Science Center on Feb. 9 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

STEMFest 2019 is supported by community partners Greenville Water, Fluor, Michelin, Duke Energy, General Electric, ScanSource, Greenville Drive, ACE Mentor Program of the Upstate, AFL, BMW, Computer Source, Clemson University Emag!ne, DRUM Percussion Studio, Fisher Middle School, East North Street Academy students, iMagine Upstate, Clemson 4-H Extension, Synergy Mill, and the EnTech 281 GreenVillains Robotics Teams.

A sampling of STEM events throughout the day for visitors of ALL ages:

• Greenville Water staff will teach visitors how water works by showing how they test your drinking water and guide a virtual tour of how water is collected, treated, and distributed by a typical drinking water utility.
• Fluor will provide engineering challenges to make circuits, polymers, acids and bases, and more. Learn what engineers do and take their bridge design challenge.
• GE will let you explore, create and invent to become the engineer in the GE design center. Try your hand at designing a device to withstand the destructive forces of the Smasher!
• Explore automotive technology and automated guided vehicles (AGV) and take the circuit challenge with BMW!
• Meet Michelin engineers to build and test a bridge made of LEGOS!
• Explore a world of light with AFL, with hands-on demonstrations of the properties of light and its usage in fiber optic cables.
• ScanSource will take you on a high-tech scavenger hunt! Use their remote-camera technology to find the hidden objects around Roper Mountain.
• Test your engineering skills with staff and students from Clemson University’s School of Engineering EMAG!NE.
• EnTech 281 GreenVillains FIRST Robotics Teams will feature cool, big robot demonstrations! Show times in the Hipp Auditorium at 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12 p.m., 1 p.m., and 1:30 p.m.
• ComputerSource, 3D Printers TOO! will showcase a host of 3D printers and the latest 3D printing technology.
• Test custom (FTC) First Tech Challenge Robots with EnTech teams and learn about FIRST robotics and their exciting competitions.
• Coding is Cool! Come enjoy various coding activities for all ages with the iMAGINE Upstate team & 4-H Science On The Move.
• STEAM Tech Teams will show how they can hack the mind through magic and will let you explore 3D design with 3D modeling so you can                                 and get  a rocket ship.
• Explore paper structures with ACE (Architecture, Construction & Engineering) Mentor Program of the Upstate.
• Power tool drag racing with Synergy Mill, Greenville’s original makerspace. Come participate with some creatively modified electric-corded power tools and compete in a brief, wild, semi-controlled flight down a two-lane plywood track, ending with a dramatic finish!
• Use Hot Wheels cars and tracks to learn about forces and motion from the students of East North Street Academy (ENSA). Our Girls Loving Science Club – sponsored by Michelin – of 4^th and 5^th grade girls will help visitors create and test a variety of tracks to learn about how objects move.
• Go Full STEAM Ahead with DRUM Percussion Studio’s hands-on stations connecting percussion to STEM! Produce sounds, compose and play your own rhythms, learn about the engineering that produces instruments, and explore the techy side of music production by programming your own beats.
• Fisher Middle School will share their unique projects including; a microshelter, an arcade game, robots and more!
• Visitors will also have the opportunity to visit with Greenville Drive mascot REEDY RIP’IT from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and have a chance to win a Greenville Drive prize pack (four tickets and merchandise).
• On the Living History Farm see blacksmithing, woodworking, hearth cooking, and test some gears.
• Be SustainABLE with USC Upstate students and get hands-on with sustainable solutions to many of our planet’s biggest challenges. Roll marbles to decide how to share “water” resources, try to build sustainable “cities” out of blocks, discover the surprising materials that are used to create green products, and more!
• Planetarium show Habitat Earth at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 12 p.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.
• View the sun (weather permitting) and enjoy additional activities in The Daniel Observatory.
• Automatic Taco and Snow Castle food trucks and Chick Fil-A food available for purchase.

STEMFest Second Saturday hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is: $8 for teens and adults (ages 13-59); $7 for children (ages 4-12) and for senior citizens (age 60 and over). Free for children age 3 and under, RMSC members, and school district employees. All events are included in the general admission to the Center.