USA Science & Engineering Festival Announces Science Dream Team: Honorary Congressional Host Committee Pledges Support to National Mall Event This October

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Over 22 senators and 64 Congressional representatives announced their support for improving U.S. science, technology, engineering and mathematics education (STEM) today by joining the USA Science & Engineering Festival Honorary Congressional Host Committee. Members of this bi-partisan committee represent over 32 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territory of American Samoa.

The goal of the USA Science & Engineering Festival and the Honorary Congressional Host Committee, is to recruit the next generation of scientists and engineers, in part by engaging K-12 students in how science intersects with their daily lives. These fields have job growth, need more Americans with the education and experience to work in them, and are vitally important to the future of our nation.

More than 550 science and engineering companies, professional associations, colleges and universities, 200 K-12 schools and other organizations are participating in two weeks of events at the Festival which is hosted by Lockheed Martin.

Honorary Congressional Host Committee members include:

Senator Daniel Kahikina Akaka (HI)

Senator Max Baucus (MT)

Senator Richard Burr (NC)

Senator Roland Burris (IL)

Senator Susan M. Collins (ME)

Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA)

Senator Al Franken (MN)

Senator Charles Grassley (IA)

Senator Kay R. Hagan (NC)

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX)

Senator Dan Inouye (HI)

Senator Johnny Isakson (GA)

Senator Tim Johnson (SD)

Senator Ted Kaufman (DE)

Senator Amy Klobuchar (MN)

Senator Robert Menendez (NJ)

Senator Jeff Merkley (OR)

Senator Patty Murray (WA)

Senator Harry Reid (NE)

Senator Jeanne Shaheen (NH)

Senator Mark Warner (VA)

Senator Jim Webb (VA)

Congressman Jason Altmire (PA)

Congressman Roscoe G. Bartlett (MD)

Congressman Brian Bilbray (CA)

Congresswoman Judy Biggert (IL)

Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (TX)

Congressman Anh “Joseph” Cao (LA)

Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (NY)

Congressman William Lacy Clay (MO)

Congressman Howard Coble (NC)

Congressman Gerald E. Connolly (VA)

Congressman Joseph Crowley (NY)

Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX)

Congressman John Culberson (TX)

Congresswoman Susan Davis (CA)

Congressman John Dingell (MI)

Congressman Mike Doyle (PA)

Congressman Vernon J. Ehlers (MI)

Congresswoman Anna G. Eshoo (CA)

Congressman Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, American Samoa

Congressman Bob Filner (CA)

Congressman Bill Foster (IL)

Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (NC)

Congressman John Garamendi (CA)

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (AZ)

Congressman Charles A. Gonzalez (TX)

Congressman Bart Gordon (TN)

Congresswoman Kay Granger (TX)

Congressman Rubén Hinojosa (TX)

Congressman Rush Holt (NJ)

Congressman Mike Honda (CA)

Congressman Bob Inglis (CA)

Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL)

Congressman Dale Kildee (MI)

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA)

Congressman Dan Lungren (CA)

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (NY)

Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA)

Congressman Michael McCaul (TX)

Congressman Jim McDermott (WA)

Congresswoman Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (WA)

Congressman Dennis Moore (KS)

Congressman Christopher Murphy (CT)

Congresswoman Sue Myrick (NC)

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC)

Congressman Pete Olson (TX)

Congressman Bill Pascrell Jr. (NJ)

Congressman Ed Pastor (AZ)

Congressman Thomas Petri (WN)

Congressman Adam H. Putnam (FL)

Congressman Hal Rogers (KY)

Congressman Peter Roskam (IL)

Congressman C. A. Dutch Ruppersberge (MD)

Congressman John Salazar (CO)

Congresswoman Linda T. Sanchez (CA)

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (CA)

Congressman Aaron Schock (CA)

Congresswoman Jackie Speier (CA)

Congressman Mike Thompson (CA)

Congressman Chris Van Hollen (MD)

Congressman Zach Wamp (TN)

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA)

Congressman Henry A. Waxman (CA)

Congressman Frank Wolf (VA)

Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (CA)

The USA Science & Engineering Festival’s grand finale is a two-day Expo on the National Mall, October 23-24, 2010, with over 1,500 interactive exhibits including:

• The science of Harry Potter, Tron, superheroes, baseball, Thanksgiving dinner and much more.
• Nobel Laureates sharing their science with all.
• Biggest Loser winners talking about the science of nutrition and National Institutes of Health’s mobile labs offering participants insight into how their bodies work.
• Fifty stage shows featuring science rappers, musicians, comedians – even the Washington Redskin’s cheerleaders are creating a support for science cheer.
• More than 40 satellite events held in a wide variety of locations across the nation including Tucscon, AZ, Corning, NY, Columbia, SC, Austin, TX, Clifton, NJ, and Berkeley, CA.

To learn more go to www.usasciencefestival.org.

The Festival is hosted by Lockheed Martin and sponsors include Life Technologies Foundation, K&L Gates, Clean Technology and Sustainability Industries Organization (CTSI), Larry and Diane Bock, ResMed Foundation, Farrell Family Foundation, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Motorola Foundation, Aerospace Industry Association, AT&T, Agilent Technologies, Amgen, Celgene Corporation, The Dow Chemical Company, National Institutes of Health, Illumina, The Kavli Foundation, Intel Corporation, You Can Do the Rubik's Cube, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., Genentech Inc., Purdue University, MedImmune, Sandia National Laboratories, Project Lead The Way (PLTW), Baxter International, Celestron, Cisco, University of Maryland, THE SCRIPPS FOUNDATION for Science and the Environment, Raytheon Company, Human Genome Sciences, Rockwell Collins, NuVasive Inc., FEI Company, Case Western Reserve University, Biogen Idec Foundation, LifeStraw®, Microsoft Corporation, Draper Laboratory, NASCAR & Ten80, Colella Photography, Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp., Silicon Valley Bank, Bechtel Corporation, SpaceX, Rochester Institute of Technology, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Research In Motion, the Thirty Meter Telescope Project, Astronomy Outreach Foundation, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Engineering, National Math and Science Initiative, SpringBoard, a Program of the Juneau Economic Development Council, The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Research and Science, University of Denver, Air Force Research Laboratory, DC Office of the Chief Technology Officer, The Aerospace Corporation, ExxonMobil, Data.gov, Periodic Quest, the USDA Food Safety Discovery Zone and DeVry University-DC Metro.

Current media partners include Discovery Communications, Popular Science and Science Illustrated, New Scientist, EE Times Group, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, POPULAR MECHANICS, ScienceBlogs, Technology Review published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Epoch Times, EarthSky Communications, "WAMU 88.5 - American University Radio," ABC TV/TBD, C&EN, the newsmagazine of the chemical & related sciences, Forbes Wolfe Emerging Tech Report, Career Communications Group, Engineering.com, PBS, the Northern Virginia Technology Council, Destination DC, FAMILY Magazine, Sigma Xi, SciVee, Inc., SchoolTube, LLC, and CrazyEngineers.com.

More than 500 of the nation’s leading science and engineering organizations are actively participating in the Festival. College and university partners include Case Western Reserve University, Duke University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, Howard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland. Professional science & engineering society partners include AAAS, American Chemical Society, American Physical Society, American Women in Science, FIRST, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), National Society of Black Engineers and the National Society of Hispanic Engineers. Federal partners include the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Environmental Protection Agency, The National Academy of Sciences, NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).