DeKALB – NIU hosted its 15th annual STEM Fest, which local businesses and NIU student organizations participated in, and was full of interactive activities for the community to engage in such as a plinko to test area of distribution.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Holmes Student Center, a crowd of at least 100 people visited different tables at STEM Fest.

Kristin Brynteson, director of NIU STEAM, explained what STEM Fest is and what attendees could expect to experience.

“STEM Fest is a free event that showcases everything science, technology, engineering, math, arts and more. We have people involved from all over campus. We have external business and industry partners, community groups, and it’s really just to showcase how STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) is everywhere in our lives,” Brynteson said. “We’re in five different buildings, five different locations across campus. So MLK Commons, [the Holmes Student Center], the library. And then we also have the robotics and rover expo happening over in Anderson Hall. And then there’s probably about 400 NIU people who are involved, either as exhibitors or volunteers.”

Brynteson said for events like this to be free they rely on sponsorships that  also showcased their exhibits.

“We do have sponsors, so that is one of the ways we keep this event free, is we work very closely with some of our sponsors. So Meta is our premier sponsor. This is their fourth year, I think, that they have supported STEM Fest. We also (have) sponsors like Thermo Fisher Scientific Bayer Fund, Ideal, 3M. We have a lot of community or industry partners that support the event, and then a lot of them are also here as exhibitors to showcase how STEM and STEAM is integral in their careers and in their business,” Brynteson said.

Aditi Venkatesh, a junior electrical engineering major, discussed how STEM Fest is a fun opportunity for different clubs to showcase their work, some of which she is part of.

“So I’m in a couple of clubs that are presenting here today, one of which is Super Mileage, and another is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). So Super Mileage is a club where we build our own vehicle and we go and compete every year at the Indy 500, which is pretty cool,” Venkatesh said. “With IEEE, It’s a club for electrical engineers, which is my major electrical engineering. So, we’re just showing off a couple of cool things related to our major,” Venkatesh said.

Gabriel Tankersley, a senior pharmacy student at University of Illinois-Chicago, talked about his table and why he went to STEM Fest.

“So this table is from the University of Illinois-Chicago College of Pharmacy in Rockford campus,” Tankersley said. “We’re here just to try to teach everybody about the careers that pharmacy can provide,” Tankersley said.

STEM Fest had fun events for all age groups, like the interactive hands- on displays. They also had book readings with Illinois Reads, who brought Illinois authors to read children’s books during the event, alongside a VR headset display with VR Golf, both located in the Founders Memorial Library.

There were also food trucks on Normal Road including Stix & Noodles, Kona Ice, and Burritoville at the event.

For more information on STEM Fest students can visit NIU’s STEAM website.