Join us for some hands-on STEM as you explore our indoor and outdoor exhibits. This event will be rain or shine, so make sure you dress appropriately and bring your umbrella, just in case!
Events will take place in the Physical Education Center on the Glen Ellyn campus at College of DuPage. Visit our Map and Directions page.
The following is a list of exhibitors scheduled to have booths at the 2023 STEMCON.
American Institute of Architects - Northeast Illinois Chapter
Participants will be able to explore basic concepts of construction through giant sized lego blocks. All visitors to the booth will be able to take home an activity kit that allows them to explore the concepts of solar orientation.
American Science and Surplus
Join American Science and Surplus as we test our inquiry skills with some interactive science demonstrations.
Angelic Organics Learning Center
Angelic Organics Learning Center is a farmer training and education non-profit building sustainable local food systems. We will create seed "bombs" with the attendees! These seed "bombs" are made from a lump of natural clay wrapped around a filling of compost (from our farm) and native wildflower seeds. Guests work the clay and add the filling and get to take home their seed bombs, with instructions on how to use them to spread native wildflowers. While they work, our booth staff will talk to kids about the effects of environmental change, how native plants and animals are essential to our ecosystems and how regenerative and Biodynamic agriculture methods and practices support the environment and help to maintain balance in our ecosystems as we farm the land.
Argonne National Laboratory
Batteries are important to everyday life, we use them to run most of our equipment, toys, and appliances. Stop by our booth to discover how can become part of a battery and BUILD a battery to power a noise maker!
Build-a-Blinkie
Learn how to solder and take home your very own STEMCON blinkie.
Building Bridges, Inc.
We will feature our "Building Bridges" STEM program. Guests will learn about the engineering design process and the basic mechanics behind building bridges while designing their own bridge with toothpicks, marshmallows, and gum drops. Guests will have the opportunity to test their bridge for durability and strength with special weights.
COD Aviation
Come and explore various aviation activities covering topics such as propellers, aviation charts, the aviation alphabet, and aircraft altitudes.
COD Biology - Botany
Explore the world of medicinal plants and take our interactive quiz.
COD Biology - Snakes
The booth will enable attendees a hands-on up close view of a variety of ball python "morphs" (color and pattern mutations), as well as genetics that go into producing a variety of morphs, including dominant, co-dominant and recessive genes. There will also be a game where attendees can guess which combinations result in specific morph pattern and color mutations.
COD Chemistry/Chemistry Bonding Club/PPAC
The booth activities will include acid-base neutralization detected by natural dyes and indicators, chromatography with water soluble markers, and understanding how atoms are bonded with molecular models.
COD Engineering Technology Club
Learn how engineering and technology can make a difference by testing out different RC cars on our racing stage.
COD Eye Care Assistant and Ophthalmic Technician
Check out our demonstrations of optical skillsets, stereo depth, near vision acuity check, examination of ocular movements, pupillary check, cover and uncover testing, and triage for ocular symptoms.
COD Library
Join us as we demo the Lenovo Mirage VR kit from our Media Lab. Users can record their own 360 image to play in the headset. Headsets also come installed with 360 software to demo the apps pre-installed by the Media Lab.
COD Math Club
Solve puzzles, test your problem-solving skills, and try your hand at artistic composition at the Math Club sponsored table. Math is both fundamental and fun! Naperville Astronomical Association Weather permitting, outdoor telescopic views of the Sun using both full-spectrum and hydrogen alpha filters. Indoor demonstrations of solar system geometry (eg. Moon phases and solar/lunar eclipse geometry, and telescope display).
COD Physics Department
Experience the Magic of Electricity and Magnetism! We will have hands-on activities that show how electricity and magnetism interact with each other and the world around us.
COD Society of Women Engineers
Test your smarts with these logic puzzles and games played at the booth. Color and use popsicle sticks to challenge your perspective and critical thinking skills. In addition, this booth will be one stop in a scavenger hunt between other STEM clubs from COD.
COD Welding
Learn about different types of welding, including shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), flux-cored arc welding (FCAW) and gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), and their differences and uses.
DuCAP-DuPage County Area Project
Explore a variety of STEM activities and learn how you can be a STEM leader for teens and tweens through volunteer and paid program leader opportunities with DuCAP.
DuPage Archeology Center
A unique exploration of archeology which includes hands-on activities, simulations, and actual artifacts and collections on display.
DuPage Children's Museum
Come and explore magnets with DuPage Children's Museum! Make observations of a suspicious magnetic substance and discover the different ways it reacts to magnets. Build a magnet fishing pole and challenge yourself to see how many and what size fish you can catch.
DuPage Regional Office of Education, STEM Squad
Building with STEM, we will have three activities for participants: work collaboratively on a giant house of cards, create your own structure with KEVA planks, and work with a partner to play BuildZi (a puzzle-building challenge).
Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois
Collecting rocks, fossils, shells, and other natural specimens can be a gateway to a career in science. Add free specimens to your own collection at the Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois (ESCONI) Juniors table-top fossil dig and pop-up shop. Learn how former ESCONI Junior members have grown up to pursue careers in geology, anthropology, microbiology, ornithology, environmental engineering, and more.
Forest Preserve District of DuPage County
Explore our Native Freshwater Mussels Exhibit, where you can examine mussel specimens, use a microscope to count baby mussels, and explore mussel larvae to host fish. Native freshwater mussels are important natural purifiers of water and serve as indicator species about the health of an aquatic ecosystem. The Forest Preserve District propagates native freshwater mussels at its Urban Stream Research Center at Blackwell Forest Preserve. The Native Freshwater Mussels STEM Exhibit highlights the science behind our propagation efforts, featuring the biology and life-cycle of mussels, technology used to count and track lab-raised individuals, and engineering processes of various aquatic-housing systems.
Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana
Put your engineering design skills to the test when you make a straw rocket and then launch it to see how far it can go.
Illinois 4-H Science Ambassador Club
The 4-H Science Ambassadors will present a hands-on environmental science activity focusing on native bees and pollinators, educating booth visitors on the topic with a walk-by activity for visitors.
Jurica-Suchy Nature Museum
Explore plants and animals native to the Northern Illinois region with hands-on natural history specimens from the Jurica-Suchy Nature Museum. Learn about ecological niches, food webs, and gain identification skills.
KIDS Urgent Care in Wheaton
Create an x-ray of your hand, pretend you are a doctor, and perform an ‘operation’ at this fun and engaging booth from KIDS Urgent Care.
Naper Settlement
Learn about inertia using inertia rings and inertia beads at this exciting new booth provided by Naper Settlement.
Naperville Astronomical Association
Weather permitting, we will have outdoor telescopic views of the Sun using both full-spectrum and hydrogen alpha filters. Indoors, see demonstrations of solar system geometry (eg. Moon phases and solar/lunar eclipse geometry), and our telescope display.
Nicor Gas
We will have a career/STEM based table with trivia questions, giveaways and demonstration items for Nicor Gas including natural gas pipeline segments and PPE.
Northern Illinois Rocketry Association
Since 1963, the Northern Illinois Rocketry Association (NIRA) has been bringing together rocket hobbyists from all over the greater Chicago area. Our booth will include a display of some of our rockets, and if the weather allows, we will also launch some rockets! This activity is weather dependent.
Red Oak Nature Center - Fox Valley Park District
Seed dispersal is incredible and has inspired many inventors! Explore different ways our native plants disperse their seeds!
Swift Nature Camp
Meet "Bubba" the pig and learn about nature, earth science and the environment. We're also going to make S'mores!
Teaching & Learning Clinic LLC
Students will explore the challenges of working with basic arithmetic in a different base in order to show the context of the difficulty.
The Chicago Section STLE
We will use an inclined plane experiment to demonstrate the basic principles of friction and lubrication. Students will use weighted pegs with various materials (metals, non-metals, rubber) glued to their surfaces to evaluate the relative speed at which they travel on the inclined surfaces to which other materials have been adhered (sand paper, aluminum foil, etc.). The students can also determine the effect that water has on the relative motion of the pegs on the inclined surfaces. We may also have an additional experiment to evaluate the effects of viscosity on lubrication, using a simulated engine piston (French press). We will help the students understand the impact of friction and lubrication on energy efficiency and global warming.
The Morton Arboretum
Take an up close look at trees and learn about the parts of a tree.
University of St. Francis
Learn some magic tricks based on mathematics. You can do these tricks at home or school to wow your friends and family!