Let your inner scientist run wild in the Biodesign Institute for ASU Open Door

Peer into science to reignite your curiosity with more than 30 awe-inspiring activities.

By Julie Kurth |
February 22, 2018

Experience hands-on fun for all-ages inside the Biodesign Institute for ASU Open Door from 1–6 p.m. Saturday. The annual open house in Tempe offers thrill seekers, lifelong learners, science gurus and art enthusiasts to experience what happens at the most innovative university in the nation.

“Getting our community comfortable with science and new technologies is critical to our environment, our health and our security,” said Joshua LaBaer, executive director of the institute. “We aim to host an afternoon of entertainment and inspiration.”

At the Biodesign Institute, visitors will encounter new ways to think about topics that affect them — such as cancer, viruses and food safety — in a way that is easy to understand. Scientists and their teams will line the open multistory atriums of two interconnected buildings that make up ASU’s premier research innovation hub. The experience will reignite curiosity with more than 30 awe-inspiring activities.

Take your photo and choose how your face evolves. Or put on a spacesuit to conduct an experiment aboard the International Space Station. See how treatments to fight Ebola are made in plants or explore how environmental plastics get inside us.

“This will be an afternoon for great fun, and you can see what types of science you resonate with most,” said Julie Kurth, manager of marketing, who led the planning committee. “Parents and teachers know that it can be just one experience that captures a student’s attention toward a scientific career.”

Visitors gather to hear about autism and gut bacteria.

Photo by Biodesign Institute at ASU
Charlie Rolsky shows boys how animals swallow microplastics in their food, and they see real whale poop that scientists check for signs of stress.

Photo by Biodesign Institute at ASU
Shawn Chen's lab can make plant leaves glow in the dark.
Look into a large model of a virus to see how these tiny survivors work.

In fact, many volunteers will be wearing stickers highlighting their professions in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The Biodesign Institute at ASU is located at 727 E. Tyler St. in Tempe, southwest of light rail stop at Rural Road. Major cross streets are University Avenue and Rural Road

ASU Open Door is a series of open houses on each of the university’s campuses throughout February. Information about free tickets and parking is available online. Follow the event on social media at #BiodesignOpenDoor.