By Brett DavisBy Brett Davis, Editor-in-Chief, Seapower Magazine<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hundreds of energetic students packed into the RiverView Ballroom at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center for the seventh year of the STEM Expo to kick off Sea-Air-Space 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The event featured more than three dozen exhibits to help interest students in grades five through 12 to pursue a STEM career. It also threw in a little fun from presentations by Mad Science, which delivers innovative, educational science demonstrations aimed at children, and the National Marine Mammal Foundation, which showcased the Navy\u2019s marine mammal program and let students get up close with an inflatable dolphin stand-in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The STEM Expo drew not only students but high-level attendees from the sea service, including Chief of Naval Research Rear Admiral Kurt J. Rothenhaus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cONR is honored to be a part of this STEM event to get the word out to young folks around the country to think about a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,\u201d Rothenhaus said. \u201cI\u2019m excited to see the many industry partners out this afternoon as well as our Naval Research Lab, all here to inspire the next generation to help build the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HII was the Champion Sponsor for the event and CACI sponsored the science stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hands-on Fun<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn my section, we\u2019re over there making a mess. We\u2019re trying to teach them some buoyancy\u201d by having students build small boats that carried weight, said HII\u2019s William Abraira, a structural engineer at Newport News Shipbuilding, who works on submarine pressure hulls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to explain water displacement to them but fun gets in the way and it quickly turns into a competition of who can hold the most marbles,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s super important, it\u2019s one of those basic principles in shipbuilding, and it just gets kids really excited.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perry Haymon, with HII\u2019s Ingalls Shipbuilding, was helping hand out brightly colored plastic \u201chard hats\u201d to students to emphasize the importance of safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI work in research and development. So, I see the importance of those new things, those new technologies. To see young minds come in and get interested in what we do at the shipyard, as well as all of HII \u2026 is very important to us. We enjoy coming and seeing the faces of young people,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of energy here, from the people coming in, just getting hard hats, and also seeing the other events that we\u2019ve got going on, from welding to virtual reality, and also building a boat to see how much weight you can actually carry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CACI had set up a booth where children could design their own hovercraft from common materials and test them in a wind tunnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been such a fun experience getting to watch them do it,\u201d said Sidney Finkenbinder, a media relations specialist at CACI. \u201cMake one, test it out, see what they can change and make it better. That\u2019s what it\u2019s all about, getting to learn new things and try out new activities \u2026 getting to see their faces when it works is just so much fun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hundreds of energetic students packed into the RiverView Ballroom at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center for the seventh year of the STEM Expo to kick off Sea-Air-Space 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The event featured more than three dozen exhibits to help interest students in grades five through 12 to pursue a STEM career. It also threw in a little fun from presentations by Mad Science, which delivers innovative, educational science demonstrations aimed at children, and the National Marine Mammal Foundation, which showcased the Navy\u2019s marine mammal program and let students get up close with an inflatable dolphin stand-in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The STEM Expo drew not only students but high-level attendees from the sea service, including Chief of Naval Research Rear Admiral Kurt J. Rothenhaus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cONR is honored to be a part of this STEM event to get the word out to young folks around the country to think about a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,\u201d Rothenhaus said. \u201cI\u2019m excited to see the many industry partners out this afternoon as well as our Naval Research Lab, all here to inspire the next generation to help build the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HII was the Champion Sponsor for the event and CACI sponsored the science stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hands-on Fun<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn my section, we\u2019re over there making a mess. We\u2019re trying to teach them some buoyancy\u201d by having students build small boats that carried weight, said HII\u2019s William Abraira, a structural engineer at Newport News Shipbuilding, who works on submarine pressure hulls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to explain water displacement to them but fun gets in the way and it quickly turns into a competition of who can hold the most marbles,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s super important, it\u2019s one of those basic principles in shipbuilding, and it just gets kids really excited.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perry Haymon, with HII\u2019s Ingalls Shipbuilding, was helping hand out brightly colored plastic \u201chard hats\u201d to students to emphasize the importance of safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI work in research and development. So, I see the importance of those new things, those new technologies. To see young minds come in and get interested in what we do at the shipyard, as well as all of HII \u2026 is very important to us. We enjoy coming and seeing the faces of young people,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of energy here, from the people coming in, just getting hard hats, and also seeing the other events that we\u2019ve got going on, from welding to virtual reality, and also building a boat to see how much weight you can actually carry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CACI had set up a booth where children could design their own hovercraft from common materials and test them in a wind tunnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been such a fun experience getting to watch them do it,\u201d said Sidney Finkenbinder, a media relations specialist at CACI. \u201cMake one, test it out, see what they can change and make it better. That\u2019s what it\u2019s all about, getting to learn new things and try out new activities \u2026 getting to see their faces when it works is just so much fun.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":119664,"menu_order":0,"template":"single-native-legacy","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"15"},"advertiser":[3637],"class_list":["post-70108","native","type-native","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","advertiser-navy-league"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"2G4ILGHMYVEJRER4JSIZI2LCR4","arc_canonical_url":"\/native\/navy-league\/2025\/04\/07\/sea-air-space-2025-kicks-off-with-annual-stem-expo\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"native-layout","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n