STEM Fest 2025 is Saturday, Sept. 20, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. This free family festival takes place in the heart of Northern Illinois University’s DeKalb campus, in MLK Commons, the Holmes Student Center, Founders Memorial Library and Swen Parson Hall.

It features more than 100 exhibits, speakers and demonstrations designed to engage guests of all ages in the world of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). Details at go.niu.edu/stemfest.

This year, NIU’s Founders Memorial Library houses several exhibitions.

One of these is the BookLab, on the fourth floor of Founders Library. This collaboration between the NIU Libraries and the NIU Department of English is a hands-on space dedicated to exploring the history, technology and future of books. It houses a remarkable, working replica Common Press – the same type of printing press developed by Gutenberg in the mid-1400s and used through the era of Benjamin Franklin.

STEM Fest visitors will get to see the Common Press, explore the historical lead type and learn how the press works. They’ll also experience hands-on printing-related activities.

“The BookLab is an exploration of the past, present and future of writing,” says Professor Nicole Clifton of the NIU Department of English, one of the BookLab organizers. “How did writing happen before computers or phones? Even though the printing press is different from our current digital technology, you can see how typesetting from several hundred years ago still influences our digital books and word processing today, and even the words we use to talk about fonts and manuscript design.”

After experiencing the BookLab on the library’s fourth floor, visitors can head to the lower level to explore the modern technologies on display in the 71 North Partnership Studio, which is part of NIU’s Office of Innovation.

There, visitors will see demonstrations of virtual reality technologies developed by NIU students, experience educational video games, and learn how methods ranging from VR to comic strips can be used to communicate complex ideas clearly.

NIU assistant director for innovation ecosystem development Federico Bassetti is eager to welcome visitors on Sept. 20.

“We’re hosting a range of different hands-on activities that show how technologies from writing to video games to virtual reality technology help people communicate,” he says. “Students from our NIU Innovation Club, Burmese Student Group, Indie Game Developers and other student organizations will share their interests and expertise.”

So far, the activities planned for 71 North include:

• The Burmese Student Group will teach STEM Fest visitors to write Burmese characters.
• NIU alumnus J.A. Allen (Ed.D. in instructional technology) will demonstrate how his cartoon-based learning model helps to communicate complex ideas clearly.
• Visitors can try out “air drawing” technology to see how their hand motions in the air get picked up as writing or drawing on a video screen.
• Visitors can experience an educational web game applying math concepts to problem solving and critical thinking.
• NIU Huskieverse students will demonstrate different applications of virtual reality (VR) simulations they’ve developed as class projects.

Founders Memorial Library is only one of the many spaces on central campus that will welcome community members from across the region on Sept. 20. Other highlights include the weather balloon launch on MLK Commons, the chance to drive robots built by high school and college students, and building electrical circuits.

Meta, STEM Fest’s premiere sponsor, will again bring the “Be Pro Be Proud” mobile workshop. It features virtual reality simulations of a range of skilled trades, such as welding, plumbing and robotics.

Visit the STEM Fest website (go.niu.edu/stemfest) for a full list of exhibitors and stage schedules. New exhibits are being added regularly.