ANSI participated in the expo through the support of the ANSI Committee on Education (CoE)/U.S. National Committee (USNC) of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Communications and Continuing Education Committee Joint Task Force on Emerging Professionals. The USNC is a totally integrated committee of ANSI.
ANSI presented a display - "Standards are everywhere!" - as part of the expo, which also featured more than 3,000 other activities and 100 onstage performances intended to help get students of all ages informed and excited about the science and engineering fields. ANSI made use of engaging graphics and hands-on toy displays to demonstrate the universality and importance of voluntary consensus standards to students, parents, teachers, and other festival attendees. The Institute is especially grateful to The LEGO Group for their generous donation of the LEGO bricks used in the display.
During the event, ANSI staff members and representatives of the ANSI Federation oversaw the exhibit, answering questions about standards, ANSI's role in the greater standards and conformance community, and other related topics. The exhibit, which was particularly popular with middle school and high school students, featured toy scenes showcasing technologies and activities in day-to-day life that depend on standards, as well as an area where students could build their own objects and structures. Illustrative signs and hand-outs pointed out precisely where standards can be found in the familiar scenes, and provided user-friendly explanations of standardization and ANSI's activities.
More details on ANSI's presentation and the educational resources created for the event are available for free download at www.ansi.org/students. Additional photos of ANSI's exhibit are available online.
To learn more about the USA Science & Engineering Festival, visit www.usasciencefestival.org.