The Beckman Institute Open House is an opportunity for Champaign-Urbana community members to encounter the science, meet the people, and experience the impact of world-changing discovery. It offers a fun, interactive look at the interdisciplinary research happening at the Beckman Institute on the University of Illinois campus.
Beckman’s annual open house, which is free and open to the public, will take place 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, April 4, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 5. It happens at the Beckman Institute, 405 N. Mathews, Ave., Urbana. The event features hands-on science experiments, opportunities to participate in research and the debut read-aloud of a Beckman-themed children’s book in English and Spanish.
Visitors of all ages are encouraged to engage with more than 30 exhibits, participate in hands-on demos, complete the science scavenger hunt, and take a commemorative photo at the selfie station.
Here’s a list of exhibits.
The children’s book is “Questions Led the Way,” a new storybook about the institute. Join guest readers in the Beckman Auditorium during open house:
- 10 a.m. Friday, April 4, Director Steve Maren
- 2 p.m. Friday, April 4, Associate Director for Research Cristina Álvarez-Mingote will read in Spanish then English
- 10 a.m. Saturday, April 5, Graduate student Kennedi Crayton
- 2 p.m. Saturday, April 5, Former Director Jeff Moore (and his 8-year-old granddaughter)
Listeners will receive a free science notebook.
About Beckman: Extraordinary science can change the lives of ordinary people. That’s the philosophy at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, where researchers from more than 40 scientific areas work together to ask and answer big questions — about human health and medical imaging, cleaner energy and greener plastics, and even artificial intelligence and bioinspired robots.
