BANGOR — The Maine Science Festival returned to Bangor’s Cross Insurance Center for its 10th year this weekend.
The Maine Discovery Museum’s annual event draws hundreds of people from across the state and brings together organizations at the forefront of the state’s science industry.
Organizers said the event also aims to inspire the next generation of Maine scientists.
“One of the things it helps with is it creates a spark in the younger generation, so they realize all of this amazing stuff is happening right here in Maine,” said Maine Science Festival Director Angela Smith. “And when they move on to their secondary education, they know that they can stay right here in Maine and see and do all of this cutting-edge work.”
Those who took part in the festival agree that it’s an opportunity to educate Maine kids.
“Getting kids involved with STEM is tremendously important,” said Kyle Severance, senior continuity analyst for Tyler Technologies. “Because getting coding experience allows them to have opportunities to stay in Maine and grow their education here and be a part of the community.”
Smith said another important aspect of the festival is that it brings attention to scientific organizations and the work they’re doing.
“We have top-level organizations that are world-renowned doing science in Maine and doing cutting-edge work,” said Smith. “Quite often they are overlooked, the public just doesn’t know about them, so we take this five-day celebration, and we shine a spotlight on them, we get their name out there.”
The five-day event included dozens of workshops and family-friendly activities.
Visit the Maine Science Festival wesbite to learn more about the yearly event.
“We need curious kids, we need curious people, we need people who are going to question why something doesn’t work or why something does work and want to make it better,” said Smith. “We want to get people excited about finding solutions to problems that the world has right now.”
