By: Street Insider | Read it >
EXPLR hosted the second-annual National STEM Festival in Washington, D.C., March 19-22, 2025.
The National STEM Festival highlighted student-led solutions that address critical global challenges. More than 100 students from 47 states and four U.S. territories who had top-scoring projects in national competitions showcased their groundbreaking STEM projects to the public and senior leaders in government and business.
“The culmination of months of hard work by students, teachers, partners, sponsors, and staff resulted in an awe-inspiring experience for the festival participants and the public,” said EXPLR CEO and National STEM Festival Co-Director Jenny Buccos. “The innovations presented by these young leaders continue to amaze me – from an app to help protect endangered languages to a wheelchair controlled by a user’s thoughts. These students showcase the power of STEM to change lives and address critical problems.”
In addition to presenting their projects to nearly 2,000 members of the public and top business leaders scouting the next wave of innovators, National STEM Champions took part in a series of educational and networking experiences, including:
- A visit to Capital Hill to meet with the House Digital Services team and discuss how tech is shaping modern governance.
- A mini-conference with C-suite executives, scientists, and industry leaders presented by SUNY – The State University of New York.
- Mentor sessions designed to build connections with corporate and federal leaders, and a Lunch & Learn with the PMI Educational Foundation to foster teamwork and collaboration.
- A D.C. landmark tour with EF Tours.
- A workshop with Qualcomm on the essentials for advancing STEM innovations—from patents and intellectual property to funding, customer insights, market strategy, and building strong networks.
Attendees of all ages attended the Public Expo at the Festival to meet the student champions and learn about their projects. They also enjoyed educational activities, from interactive baking soda experiments with Arm & Hammer, robotics competitions with the Grant Imahara STEAM Foundation, a STEM escape room by Learning Undefeated and more.
The Festival offered inspiring and engaging experiences to participants with the support of Co-Presenting Sponsors Autodesk, Broadcom Foundation, and The Square. Supporting organizations included Booz Allen, George Mason University, Google, Nokia, Project Management Institute, The Mark Cuban Foundation, Panasonic, Caterpillar Foundation, and the State University of New York (SUNY). A complete list of sponsors is available on the festival website.
This year’s festival also marked a significant milestone as EXPLR announced the expansion of the National STEM Festival to Armenia in partnership with Gyumri Information Technologies Center. During the Festival, EXPLR Co-Founders Jenny Buccos and Kari Byron joined Armenian officials including Ambassador H.E. Lilit Makunts for a ceremonial signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to bring the event to Armenia in 2026 furthering its mission to spotlight young innovators on a global stage.
In addition to the National STEM Festival, EXPLR’s STEM Week offered more than 100 free in-person and virtual STEM events nationwide from March 14-23.
About EXPLR
EXPLR’s mission is to help kids thrive in school and life by providing real-world, rigorous, and relevant educational resources. EXPLR is a streaming video and curriculum service for grade 5-12 students, teachers, and families that helps bridge critical gaps in K-12 education. It was co-founded by leading education and entertainment figures Jenny Buccos (founder of ProjectExplorer), Kari Byron (former Discovery Channel MythBuster ), and Andrew Zimmern (TV personality, producer, and U.N. World Food Programme Goodwill Ambassador). Visit EXPLR.com.
