UA science fair incorporates art, attracts high school students

A science, technology, engineering and math fair at the University of Arizona on Thursday incorporated arts among its exhibitors.

More and more STEM events are including arts nationally, said Kelly South, a UA spokeswoman. The arts are closely intertwined with STEM fields.

The UA event, which attracted more than 700 high school and undergraduate students, was titled “STEAMworks.”

“The whole point of this is to get high school and undergraduate students excited about STEAM,” South said.

More than 50 exhibitors from various science, technology, engineering, arts and math disciplines participated. Some of those included edible optics, underwater robots, virtual reality, music technology, game development and medical simulation technology.

Adobe, the computer software company known for creating Photoshop, InDesign, Lightroom and other design and photography-related software, was one of the exhibitors at STEAMworks.

“We cross into so many areas of STEM,” said Brad Buchanan, an account manager for Adobe.

Design software are used in many science-related disciplines, including engineering, he said.

The Adobe booth showed how mobile apps could be used to show off students’ work.

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Vishakk Rajendran, a BASIS Tucson North student the Star has written about, was invited to show off his 3D-printed prosthetic hands after the story was published.

Rajendran makes prosthetic hands, which cost far less than conventional prosthetics, and works with a nonprofit organization to get those hands to people who need them but can’t afford them.

He and his schoolmate, Meena Ravishankar, displayed several prosthetic hands as well as other figures they created using a 3D printer.

Savannah Sanchez, 18, visited Rajendran’s 3D printing booth.

“I think it’s amazing how they can make it cheaper,” she said.

Several groups of students and teachers roamed the Grand Ballroom at the UA’s Student Union, taking in the many exhibits.

Luis Blanco, a learning support coordinator at Santa Rita High School, said he hoped the event would expose his group of 26 high school freshmen to various STEM fields and inspire them to pursue careers in those fields.

Plus, he added, it’s fun.

“The kids are liking it,” he said. “They are having a good time.”