NIU STEM Fest to return Saturday in DeKalb

DeKALB – Northern Illinois University will host its annual STEM Fest featuring career exploration Saturday.

STEM Fest will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the NIU Holmes Student Center, MLK commons and central campus buildings, according to a news release.

Admission to STEM Fest is free and open to the public.

Attendees can fly drones, launch rockets, explore healthcare careers, look through microscopes, build electrical circuits and try hands-on science, technology, engineering and math activities.

The NIU Medical Laboratory Sciences program will offer a career exploration activity booth. Activities include using laboratory micropipettes and glassware and “pin the flagella on the Trichomonas.”

Participants can look at peripheral blood smears with leukemic cells, abnormal red blood cell morphology, or malaria. Attendees will also be able to meet medical laboratory science students and faculty.

NIU STEAM educators are partnering with Meta, social media giant Facebook’s parent company, to hold a “Be Pro Be Proud” mobile workshop. The workshop features virtual reality simulators for various skilled trades such as robotics, welding, long-distance truck driving and plumbing.

For information, visit niusteam.niu.edu/programs-events/stem-fest/.