President Obama celebrated the student competitors and winners from a broad range of science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) competitions.
The event was the largest White House Science Fair to date, with more than 130 students from more than 30 states, as well as student alumni from each of the prior five White House Science Fairs.
Educational games developer Kuato Studios was invited to take part in the White House Science Fair – the only European company invited.
Kuato Studios is committing to reach thousands of schools across 30 states with free STEM content. Through games, Kuato aims to inspire more pupils in computer science and also to provide a tool that gives teachers the confidence to tackle computer science with their students in a fun and engaging way. Mark Horneff, Managing Director, Kuato Studios: “President Obama’s commitment to ‘Computer Science for All’, and his Educate to Innovate’ campaign are absolutely in line with the work we do here at Kuato. With our games already being used to get kids into STEM across the US and the UK, we hope we can really play our part in making a difference to kids education.”
Code Warriors, the official game played at the White House Science Fair
President Obama established the tradition of the White House Science Fair at the start of his Administration to personally celebrate America’s top young scientists and innovators.
The President also highlighted the growing community of education, business, and nonprofit leaders who have responded to his State of the Union call to give every child the opportunity to learn computer science (CS), as well as his overall ‘Educate to Innovate’ campaign to ensure all students have the tools to be innovators and problem-solvers.
The announcements included:
• A $200 million investment by Oracle to support CS education for an additional 125,000 students in the United States.
• More than 500 K-12 schools committing to expand access to CS, with support from Code.org.
• Commitments to expand STEM learning for more of the youngest learners, from family engagement to innovative use of media.
• A new online matching platform, supported by US2020, to help more STEM professionals who want to volunteer and mentor.
Official White House photos by Lawrence Jackson and Pete Souza