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FTPP and IMAP Participated in STEAMFest!

steamfest 2025

The Future Technologies & enabling Plasma Processes (FTPP) and Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) teams were proud to participate in this year’s STEAMFest, a free, family-friendly celebration of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics. The festival is the signature event of the Alabama Science Festival, offering interactive exhibits, live demonstrations, and activities across topics such as robotics, paleontology, space science, and more. This year’s STEAMFest took place on October 25, 2025, on the beautiful campus of The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), bringing together thousands of curious minds for a day of learning, exploration, and fun.

Our Hands-On Activities

We hosted three hands-on IMAP-themed activities designed to inspire curiosity, critical thinking, and creativity in science. Click on each activity to find out more!

Participants examined unfamiliar objects and worked together to determine what they were and how they might be used, without being told the answer. Guided only by thoughtful questioning, attendees discussed possibilities before the reveal: 3D-printed models of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe (PSP) and Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP).
This activity highlighted the importance of curiosity and inquiry in scientific discovery.

Guests explored the four states of matter, solid, liquid, gas, and plasma, through hands-on demonstrations. This interactive station helped participants understand how energy changes affect matter and encouraged them to ask questions and make observations, just like real scientists.

Through a creative design challenge, participants drew cards that assigned them an object, purpose, and material. Using design planning sheets, they sketched and explained their ideas. Participants demonstrated imagination, problem-solving, and early-stage engineering thinking.