CHANDLER, Ariz. – Ready, set, blast off! The City of Chandler and Chandler Unified School District (CUSD) invite the public to the annual Chandler Innovation Fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25. The free one-day, hands-on event will be in Downtown Chandler, 178 E. Commonwealth Ave., between Buffalo and Boston streets along Commonwealth Avenue.

More than 100 exhibitors from CUSD schools and local technology companies will participate to demonstrate the basics of science and the impact it has on your daily life. There will be plenty of hands-on activities as engineers and other working professionals, student makers and innovators showcase new experiments and science concepts.

Event sponsor Northrop Grumman will launch a model rocket every hour and their scientists and engineers will have at least 30 interactive activities on display. Northrop Grumman also will have a passport for kids to earn stamps as they complete each activity, including displays and experiments from CUSD. Once the passport is filled out, they may exchange it for a prize.

Intel will have their engineers available to assist the youth with assembling Scribble Bots (STEAM kits). They also will showcase their nonprofit partners, YWCA and Maricopa Community Colleges.

During the event there will be two “See It; Be It!” panel discussions led by the SciTech Institute inside the Chandler Public Library, 22 S. Delaware St., Copper Room. Both panels will feature representatives from a variety of companies including Intel, Northrop Grumman, East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT), Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona and Maricopa Community Colleges among others.

-“YOU belong in STEAM'' | 10:30 - 11:45 a.m.
Attendees will listen to STEAMists who identify as Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Southeast Asian, disabled and LBGTQ+ as they share their stories in STEAM.

-Go For It! Career Pathways | 1 - 2:15 p.m.
Learn about the ways you can join various industries including Tech, Automotive, Aviation & Aerospace, Business & Finance; Healthcare; Manufacturing; and Software & Information Technology) — starting with a certificate. 

The Chandler Innovation Fair is part of the Arizona SciTech Festival, a statewide movement to promote and celebrate science in our daily lives and to earn recognition for Arizona as a science and technology hub. After competing in the Chandler Innovation Fair, many CUSD students go on to compete in the state festival. This past year, one CUSD student even moved on to the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)!

Sponsors of this year’s Chandler Innovation Fair include Northrop Grumman, Intel, NXP, WM of Arizona, Edwards Vacuum and First Things First.

Free parking for the event is available at The Johnathan parking garage (south of Buffalo Street, east of Arizona Avenue), or The Alexander parking garage (north of Boston Street, east of Arizona Avenue).

For a complete list of exhibitors, visit chandleraz.gov/InnovationFair. For more information, or event-related questions, the public may contact Odette Moore with the City of Chandler Economic Development Division at 480-782-3038, or Shannon Prince with CUSD at 480-224-3710.