KINGS POINT, N.Y., October 30, 2013 – On Sunday, October 27^th, six midshipmen and three members of the Math & Science faculty, representing the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) and its Science Club, participated in the celebration of National Chemistry Week at the New York Hall of Science in Queens, NY. The USMMA team actively engaged thousands of museum visitors with a series of fun-filled and “green” focused hands-on experiments and demonstrations.

In keeping with this year’s theme, “Energy: Now and Forever!”, the USMMA team demonstrated how a light bulb can be powered through various forms of energy, including tidal, falling water or ocean-wind energy, and also demonstrated how a toy boat could move through the use of solar power.  Participants learned about alternative energies that are currently being utilized, and research that is being conducted to find new ways to use the Earth’s resources more efficiently.

“We greatly appreciate the USMMA team’s presentation at such a large public convention.  Through the program, they demonstrated the importance of using sustainable resources and excited the public and the next generation of scientists with the hands-on chemistry fun”, said Dr. Jerry Doumas, Head of the Math & Science Department. The program was made possible through the alumni gift funds to the Science Club.