EWU’s First-ever STEM Expo Planned For Homecoming Weekend

Rockets, Ice Age fossils, virtual reality, robotics and liquid nitrogen ice cream will be part of EWU’s first-ever STEM Expo on Saturday, Oct. 10, an event designed to help students, alumni and community members more fully engage with the latest in research, technology and discovery at Eastern. 

Tony Masiello, the EWU professor of chemistry who organized the event, says the goal is simply, “to get people in, and to have fun with science.” He also hopes it will serve as a chance to showcase EWU’s newly renovated science facilities, while at the same time offering prospective students a chance to discover what university STEM programs have to offer.  

Activities include presentations at the Digital Visualization Theater, Eastern’s reenvisioned planetarium dome, where faculty members and staff will guide audiences through the universe and geology of other planets. Other events include demonstrations involving fingerprint-investigation techniques, chemical magic, robotics applications, rocket launches, and much more.  

Because the expo is taking place as part of Homecoming Week, organizers say, visiting alumni will have a great opportunity to visit the transformed Science Building and get a close-up view of many areas of inquiry that faculty and student researchers are currently investigating. 

Masiello is quick to emphasize that the expo was not a one-person project. Faculty members and students from different areas of the university helped determine what activities would be offered, and are planning and facilitating those activities. He says, “Hardly any aspect of it was done by myself. I knew the right people to ask, the ones who knew what to do.”  

Student volunteers from various clubs across campus, among them the Eco Eagles, the Forensic Science Club, and the Chemistry Club, have also played a major role in bringing the expo together, Masiello adds.   

Note on Parking: Visitors attending the STEM expo should plan for regular game day parking. Parking near Roos Field and along Washington Street will be limited due to homecoming football activities. Visitors can use available free parking lots, including the Hargreaves parking area as well as nearby street parking. Attendees should allow extra time to park and walk to the expo. 

STEM Expo Schedule:   

Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026 

10 – 10:30 a.m.  

• Using Mathematics to Find Hidden Shapes in Data | Science Building, 112 

• Go Fish – Using DNA to Understand Trout Ecology | Science Building, 219 

• DVT Presentation: Cosmic Spectroscopy: Unlocking the Secrets of the Universe with Light | Digital Visualization Theatre | Science Building, 216 

10:30 – 11 a.m.  

• The Life We Cannot See: How Microbes Shape Health and Disease | Science Building, 219 

• Chemical Magic Show | Science Building, 009 

• DVT Presentation: Geology of the Solar System and Beyond | Digital Visualization Theatre | Science Building, 216 

11- 11:30 a.m. 

• The World’s Slowest Road Trip: A Car Talk Puzzle | Science Building, 112 

• Welcome to the Age of AI Agents | Science Building, 219 

• DVT Presentation: Cosmic Spectroscopy: Unlocking the Secrets of the Universe with Light | Digital Visualization Theatre | Science Building, 216 

11:30 – Noon 

• Intro to Cellular Biology | Science Building,112 

• Chemical Magic Show | Interdisciplinary Science Center, 009 

• DVT Presentation: Geology of the Solar System and Beyond | Digital Visualization Theatre | Science Building, 216 

Noon – 12:30 p.m. 

• What Were Egg-Laying Mammals Doing During the Age of Dinosaurs | Science Building, 112 

• From Sunlight to Electricity, the Science of Photovoltaics | Science Building, 219 

• DVT Presentation: Cosmic Spectroscopy: Unlocking the Secrets of the Universe with Light | Digital Visualization Theatre | Science Building, 216 

12: 30 – 1 p.m. 

• Deciphering the flow of PFAS in the Groundwater of the West Plains | Science Building, 112 

• Inside AI: How it Works, How it Breaks, and How We Secure It | Science Building, 219 

• Chemical Magic Show | Interdisciplinary Science Building, 009 

• DVT Presentation: Geology of the Solar System and Beyond | Digital Visualization Theatre | Science Building, 216

Hands-on activities and demonstrations (10 a.m. – 1 p.m.) 

• Unearthed: The Ice Age Experience | Ground Floor Interdisciplinary Science Center 

• Chemistry Exploration Station | Interdisciplinary Science Center, 117 

• Fingerprint Detective: Exploring the Science of Identification | Interdisciplinary Science Center, 113 

• Journey Through the Human Body: A Virtual Reality Adventure | Interdisciplinary Science Center, 221 

• Rocket Launch Demonstration: Science in Flight | Computer Engineering Building courtyard 

• Biology Discovery Station | Science Building, 105 

• Precision Robotics in Action | 1st Floor, Computer Engineering Building Lobby 

• Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream (while supplies last) | Interdisciplinary Science Center, top of stairs  

Story written by Cara Peterson