CITY OF STEM SCIENCE FESTIVAL PROGRAM CELEBRATES SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY THROUGHOUT LOS ANGELES COUNTY IN APRIL 2018

Los Angeles( February, 2018) The Columbia Memorial Space Center, along with participating partners, today announced that the City of STEM, Los Angeles’ largest science festival, is set for launch in April 2018. The month-long, community-focused celebration of science, technology, engineering, and math( STEM) is composed of numerous events for all ages taking place throughout Los Angeles County from dozens of partner organizations.

“ Los Angeles is an innovation incubator— a place where the world comes to develop new ideas and pioneer groundbreaking technologies,” said Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti.“ City of STEM is an opportunity for L. A. to showcase a science, technology, and engineering ecosystem that is creating new opportunities every day and putting L. A. at the center of a global movement to envision tomorrow and build it today.” Participating partners for the 2018 City of STEM include the City of Los Angeles, Northrop Grumman, The Los Angeles County Alliance for Boys & Girls Clubs, Biocom, Amgen, The Los Angeles Public Library, YMCA, SpaceX, Aerojet-Rocketdyne, The Planetary Society, The Sierra Club, Two Bit Circus, The Natural History Museum, The Aquarium of the Pacific, Virgin Orbit, JPL, Impossible Science and Financial Partners Credit Union.

“ City of STEM is a platform to unite the diversity of Greater Los Angeles, rallying the public around science and drawing attention to the region’ s continued national importance in STEM research, education and industry, from aerospace to biotech. We will bring STEM activities to a variety of audiences, opening access to STEM throughout the region,” said Ben Dickow, City of STEM organizer, and President of the Columbia Memorial Space Center.

Unique events throughout April 2018 will appeal to all ages, making STEM accessible to everyone. April’ s activities include the world’ s only kids-themed event connected to the international Yuri’ s Night celebration, science hikes led by the LA Sierra Club, family nature-themed days at the Natural History Museum and LA Zoo, a gala for retired Southern California aerospace workers, and an adults-only biotech evening at an LA pub hosted by Biocom. New events in April are being added every day, so check cityofstem. org for an updated calendar.

The month-long series of events will culminate in a City of STEM celebration on Saturday, April 28 at the Columbia Memorial Space Center in Downey, CA. This large-scale event will feature dozens of STEM partner booths, indoor and outdoor activities, music, food trucks, and special guest Jason Latimer of Impossible Science and the Discovery Channel show“ SciJinks.”

The City of STEM Science Festival has been recognized as a member by the Science Festival Alliance, the national organization dedicated to connecting and promoting unique STEM events. City of STEM is part of the Science Festival Accelerator, a program of the Science Festival Alliance, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Organizations that would like to participate in the City of STEM Science Festival in April should visit www. cityofstem. org. The website will have an updated list of partners and event calendar. For media inquiries please contact Sarah Medina at the Columbia Memorial Space Center,( 562) 231-1200 or smedina @ downeyspacecenter. org

Jason Latimer is American illusionist who in 2003 became one of four Americans to ever win the title Grand Prix " Best Overall " at the World Championships of Magic. In 2012, Jason starred in the six live British television specials on the BBC One ' s " The Magicians," and won UK competition overall.

In, 2014, Latimer joined Penn & Teller and Christen Gerhart of the American magic competition television series Wizard Wars on the Syfy channel.

In 2015, Jason launched the Impossible Science program in San Diego, CA. Currently, Latimer is the curator of Impossible Science for the Fleet Science Center and oversees the Impossible Science Initiative in science centers throughout Southern California. Jason ' s role would be to coordinate the Impossible Science Experience and Program by designing interactive science experiments to engage curiosity and wonder in an educational environment.

Jason continues to be a keynote speaker for many summits including the E3 Summit, the Department of Education for Wyoming on the new approach the Impossible Science Initiative has brought to STEM education.

8 VANISH Magazine www. VanishMagazine. com