STEM Expo at the Ohio Science Olympiad State Tournament

2026 Campus Building Map

Please enter through the external Tom W. Davis Gym doors (pictured below) at the RPAC, and follow signage to the South Gym for the STEM Expo:

Exhibit will feature a hands-on wind turbine engineering activity where participants test and analyze different propeller designs while exploring renewable energy concepts. CARE (Community, Access, Retention, and Empowerment) Outreach and Community Engagement at The Ohio State University connects K–8 students and families to engaging STEM experiences that spark curiosity and problem-solving. Through interactive activities grounded in real-world engineering challenges, CARE inspires the next generation to explore pathways in engineering and technology. Learn more about CARE’s programs and impact by visiting their website.

Exhibit will feature finch robot programming and robot jousting. COSI (Center of Science and Industry) in Columbus, Ohio, is a premier, 320,000-square-foot science center featuring over 300 interactive exhibits, a planetarium, and a dinosaur gallery. As a top educational hub, it offers hands-on STEAM experiences for all ages. Click here to visit COSI's website for more information!

Interactive STEM activities, puzzles, and math games. Click here to view Math Plus Academy's website.

Students will disassemble/assemble a computer node. Established in 1987 and based in Columbus, the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) is a statewide high-performance computing (HPC) resource. It provides academic institutions and private industries with massive computational power, data storage, and AI/machine learning capabilities to accelerate research in fields like engineering, medicine, and physical sciences.

Ohio EPA's STEM Expo exhibit will feature Trashology 101. Everyone needs clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. We want to keep our environment clean, but we enjoy modern conveniences that create pollution, like air emissions from electric plants and automobiles and hazardous waste like leftover paint and cleaning chemicals.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is a state agency whose goal is to protect the environment and public health by ensuring compliance with environmental laws. Those laws and related rules outline Ohio EPA's authority and what things we can consider when making decisions about regulated activities. Click here to visit the Ohio EPA webpage.

CCBBI will provide activities that teach about the brain:

1. Learn about your visual system: corn hole and optical illusions  

2. Learn about inattentional blindness: attention game  

3. Learn about nerve cells – create a neuron 

4. Ask a brain expert – we will have brain models 

The Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Brain Imaging (CCBBI) stands as an interdisciplinary hub within The Ohio State University's College of Arts and Sciences. Situated in the Department of Psychology, CCBBI is a dedicated research facility with a primary focus on human cognitive, clinical, developmental, and social neuroscience. Click here to visit the OSU CCBBI webpage.

Entomology competitors won't want to miss this exhibit which will feature both live and pinned arthropod specimens. Interested in learning more about what the Ohio State University Department of Entomology has to offer? Visit their webpage here.

The exhibit with feature microscopy of live zebrafish, worm, and fly embryos/larvae. Visit the Department of Molecular Genetics page to view their groundbreaking research, upcoming events, and more!

Students will ID minerals with test kits and more. The faculty and students in the School of Earth Science study the Earth’s interior and surface, its oceans, freshwaters and glaciers, its atmosphere and outer space, and their interactions with each other and with the biosphere. Click here to learn more about OSU's School of Earth Sciences.

Learn more about the Buckeye chapter of the national Biomedical Engineering Society here. BMES is a student organization at OSU open to all students with an interest in biomedical engineering, whether pursuing a degree in BME or exploring career paths in healthcare, research, or medical innovation. Their mission is to bridge the gap between academic learning and real-world experience by offering professional development, networking, research, and mentorship opportunities. Whether preparing for medical school, graduate school, internships, or your first job, BMES supports your academic journey and help you thrive in the ever-evolving field of biomedical engineering.

2026 Campus Building Map

Please enter through the external Tom W. Davis Gym doors (pictured below) at the RPAC, and follow signage to the South Gym for the STEM Expo:

Or, you may enter through the main entrance, (pictured below) and event volunteers stationed at the doors will show you the elevator/stairs to get down to the Expo:

Please use the College Road drop-off / pick-up lane, denoted by a red bus on the parking map. Use John Herrick Dr. to avoid game day traffic—this route goes through medical campus and will not have priority outbound traffic from the game. There will be campus police presence in this area during the Spring Game.

Spring Game traffic starts at 9AM, and there are no road closures. Afternoon event volunteers will expect to sit in 30-40 minutes of traffic. Please account for additional travel time.

Spring Game outbound traffic (all roads surrounding the stadium) are priority from 1-4pm, but there are no road closures. 

Pop rockets and sling rockets catered more so for elementary and middle schoolers and recruitment information for interested high school students! BSLI is a student-run organization at Ohio State that participates in various programs, such as the NASA Student Launch Initiative, the International Rocket Engineering Competition, and the Liquid Rocket Systems team. They are a multidisciplinary group of dozens of talented students from various fields of study, working together on these and other fun projects. Click here to learn more about the BSLI student organization at OSU!

Exhibit will feature a hands-on wind turbine engineering activity where participants test and analyze different propeller designs while exploring renewable energy concepts. CARE (Community, Access, Retention, and Empowerment) Outreach and Community Engagement at The Ohio State University connects K–8 students and families to engaging STEM experiences that spark curiosity and problem-solving. Through interactive activities grounded in real-world engineering challenges, CARE inspires the next generation to explore pathways in engineering and technology. Learn more about CARE’s programs and impact by visiting their website.

Exhibit will feature finch robot programming and robot jousting. COSI (Center of Science and Industry) in Columbus, Ohio, is a premier, 320,000-square-foot science center featuring over 300 interactive exhibits, a planetarium, and a dinosaur gallery. As a top educational hub, it offers hands-on STEAM experiences for all ages. Click here to visit COSI's website for more information!

The Columbus Zoo & Aquarium will provide information on Zoo programming for students, schools, and families and provide a hands on activity focused on local wildlife and conservation. The Columbus Zoo & Aquarium is a world-renowned, 580+ acre facility founded in 1927 that houses over 10,000 animals from 600+ species. Welcoming over 2.2 million visitors annually, it features eight distinct regions, including the "Heart of Africa" and "Adventure Cove," along with the 10,000-acre Wilds conservation center.

Interactive STEM activities, puzzles, and math games. Click here to view Math Plus Academy's website.

NSF HAMMER-ERC seeks to develop new approaches to manufacturing. They will teach participants about manufacturing processes through a series of hands-on activities involving Play-Doh. At room temperature, model materials like plasticine and Play-Doh flow similarly to how heated metals flow when being formed, making it an optimal medium to use when teaching about metal forming. Participants will learn about the various forming processes as they interact with Play-Doh. They will be asked to forge, shear, and extrude the Play-Doh. This activity brings together materials engineering and hands-on fun, making it suitable for participants of all ages who want to learn more about metals manufacturing. Participants will be asked to shape Play-Doh into a specific shape to simulate metal forging. Forging involves deforming a material into target shape, either by pressing into a die (closed die forging) or by hammering into shape (open die forging). Participants will be asked to cut Play-Doh to simulate metal shearing. Shearing involves cutting material between two sharp edges. Participants will be asked to push Play-Doh through presses to simulate metal extrusion. Extrusion involves pushing a material through a die to create a new cross-sectional shape. As participants forge, shear, and extrude their Play-Doh, they will also receive information on materials engineering from HAMMER so that they can develop a more nuanced understanding of metals manufacturing.

Click here to visit National Science Foundation HAMMER Engineering Research Center's website.

Students will disassemble/assemble a computer node. Established in 1987 and based in Columbus, the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) is a statewide high-performance computing (HPC) resource. It provides academic institutions and private industries with massive computational power, data storage, and AI/machine learning capabilities to accelerate research in fields like engineering, medicine, and physical sciences.

Ohio EPA's STEM Expo exhibit will feature Trashology 101. Everyone needs clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. We want to keep our environment clean, but we enjoy modern conveniences that create pollution, like air emissions from electric plants and automobiles and hazardous waste like leftover paint and cleaning chemicals.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is a state agency whose goal is to protect the environment and public health by ensuring compliance with environmental laws. Those laws and related rules outline Ohio EPA's authority and what things we can consider when making decisions about regulated activities. Click here to visit the Ohio EPA webpage.

CCBBI will provide activities that teach about the brain:

1. Learn about your visual system: corn hole and optical illusions  

2. Learn about inattentional blindness: attention game  

3. Learn about nerve cells – create a neuron 

4. Ask a brain expert – we will have brain models 

The Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Brain Imaging (CCBBI) stands as an interdisciplinary hub within The Ohio State University's College of Arts and Sciences. Situated in the Department of Psychology, CCBBI is a dedicated research facility with a primary focus on human cognitive, clinical, developmental, and social neuroscience. Click here to visit the OSU CCBBI webpage.

Showcase ChemE Car and demonstrate safe reactions and mechanisms used to power the cars. OSU Chemistry & Biomolecular Engineering is one of the oldest chemical engineering programs in the United States and is marked by a tradition of excellence. Click here to keep up with the ground-breaking work done by the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Ohio State.

The exhibit with feature microscopy of live zebrafish, worm, and fly embryos/larvae. Visit the Department of Molecular Genetics page to view their groundbreaking research, upcoming events, and more!

Interactive demonstrations of hearing/audiology, speech, language, swallowing, and balance. The Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at OSU offers degrees at both the undergraduate level and graduate level in speech and hearing science, with concentrations in speech-language pathology, audiology, speech science and hearing science. Click here to view the department's webpage for more information. 

Students will ID minerals with test kits and more. The faculty and students in the School of Earth Science study the Earth’s interior and surface, its oceans, freshwaters and glaciers, its atmosphere and outer space, and their interactions with each other and with the biosphere. Click here to learn more about OSU's School of Earth Sciences.

See Brilliance is an organization that provides educational programs and services to increase access to and awareness of STEAM for historically marginalized youth. Exhibit will feature acrylics and making necklaces.

Their STEAM program offers youth experiences that show how STEAM is relevant to their everyday lives and encourages the development of a STEM identity. We also provide parent learning opportunities that promote cultural connections to STEAM and encourage parent engagement in STEAM learning. Click here to learn more about See Brilliance.

STEM Solutions, LLC will provide science demonstrations and hands-on activities that connect basic physics principles to everyday life and beyond.

Learn more about the Buckeye chapter of the national Biomedical Engineering Society here. BMES is a student organization at OSU open to all students with an interest in biomedical engineering, whether pursuing a degree in BME or exploring career paths in healthcare, research, or medical innovation. Their mission is to bridge the gap between academic learning and real-world experience by offering professional development, networking, research, and mentorship opportunities. Whether preparing for medical school, graduate school, internships, or your first job, BMES supports your academic journey and help you thrive in the ever-evolving field of biomedical engineering.