The Georgia Institute of Technology is participating this weekend in the nation’s largest celebration of science, the USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo in Washington, D.C.

Georgia Tech is a proud sponsor of the event that aims to get the nation’s youth interested and excited about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The free event will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on April 28 and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 29 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, located at 801 Mount Vernon Place NW.

Faculty and staff from Georgia Tech will be showcasing the Institute’s cutting-edge research to thousands  of children through interactive and entertaining activities. At Georgia Tech’s expo booth, the activities include:

• “Augmented Reality: Moving the Internet into the Real World” – Young people will have the opportunity to try the Argon Augmented Reality Web Brower and see images, text, video and 3D characters in the real world.
• “Come Match the Art of Nanotechnology” – Students can see images transformed from an electron microscope into inspired art.
• “Lasers: Superhero Technology Everyone Can Use” – Visitors can play with lasers, bend light and defy gravity.

Representatives from the Georgia Tech’s Office of Undergraduate Admission will be at a booth in the Career Pavilion spreading the good word about Tech’s academics and campus life – to recruit the next generation of engineers and innovators. Tech alumni from the D.C. chapter will be at the booth volunteering and sharing their experiences. And, Georgia Tech’s beloved mascot, Buzz, is making the trip to D.C. for the expo.

The fun doesn’t stop there. Comedian Pete Ludovice, who is also a chemical and biomedical engineering professor at Georgia Tech, will be providing the lighter side of science in the festival expo’s “Night of Comedy” along with several other humorous scientists.

Ludovice will be doing three shows:

• “The Attack of the Monster Molecules” – April 28 at 3 p.m. on the Carver Stage
• “Statistics: Feel the Power of the Dork Side” – April 28 at 5 p.m. on the Franklin Stage.
• “Chemical Engineering – More Thank Just Gas” – April 29 at noon on the Franklin Stage

Tech’s booths will be among more than 3,000 fun and interactive exhibits, 100 stage shows and 33 author presentations at the expo.