(upbeat music) - The STEM Action Center hosts a two-day celebration of science and technology with exhibits, expert talks and live shows, September 16th and 17th at Mountain America Expo Center.

Allison Spencer is here to tell us more about the event.

Hi, Allison.

Thanks for coming back.

So you're 11 years into doing this, and how many people do you get?

- We get about up to 10, some years 15,000 adults, children and community members statewide.

- [Mary] Wow.

That is impressive.

- Yes, it's a lot.

It's fun.

- And so kind of talk about why it's so important to connect the students and families with tech and science.

- Sure, it's our big event of the year to give exposure to kids to fun things that you can do in STEM education that they might not see otherwise.

It also helps adults and younger kids see what careers might be available at companies that come and join us for this event every year.

- Yeah, and I know you've got a lot of impressive companies coming in, so can you talk about some of them?

- Absolutely.

We love our partners.

Statewide we have ARUP.

Boeing comes, Rio Tinto.

Rocky Mountain Power puts on a great display, among about 70 others, and they do a lot of hands-on STEM activities for students.

- Yeah, and talk about some of the activities that they do, the interactive things you think kids really would love.

- Yeah, we've had the Air Force bring a cockpit.

We've had pantograph machines where they can talk about the science of, you know, electromagnetism, and a lot of fun things that banks do with financial literacy that entail games and just things that you would think of, but in a more creative way that kind of spark that imaginative thinking for students.

- Great.

And I know you've got music too.

- Yes, yeah, we have a Public Night that's September 16th where families can come back and kind of be a more casual atmosphere.

- That's great.

Well, it's a wonderful thing you're doing and thanks for being here.

- Thank you.

- And if you'd like to know more about the STEM Action Center's STEM Fest, it's September 16th and 17th at the Mountain America Expo Center.

Meet a lot of companies, experts and interact.

Go to utahstemfest.com.

That's utahstemfest.com.

I'm Mary Dickson.

Thanks for watching "Contact."

(upbeat music) - Local events, arts, culture.

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Hi, I'm Mary Dickson.

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