2025 National STEM Festival: Sharing our passion for water with the engineers of tomorrow

Picture this: a high school student from Montana tastes tap water and bottled water side-by-side, discovers they’re nearly identical, then asks, “So why do people spend so much on bottled water?” It’s exactly the kind of question that gets young minds thinking about real-world water challenges—and it happened dozens of times at Carollo’s booth during the 2025 National STEM Festival in Washington, DC.

Carollo Cares was there to show young people that water engineering isn’t just about pipes and pumps—it’s about solving problems that affect every person, every day.

Highlights from the 2025 National STEM Festival in Washington, DC

The annual expo showcases student projects and activities related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). This year’s event brought more than 100 high school STEM champions from 47 states and four US territories to the nation’s capital to present their research and interact with national STEM leaders and policymakers.

For four days, attendees participated in mentoring sessions, presentations, and networking events. In addition to the many presentations led by students, Carollo hosted a booth staffed with nine employees from our Los Angeles and Washington DC offices and three local water industry partners. The group engaged attendees in interactive, water-focused activities. Highlights included:

• PFAS Bingo. Taking a cue from a popular game, students identified common household and consumer products that may contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The group discussed some of the things Carollo is doing to help utilities treat these “forever chemicals” in local water supplies.
  
• What Does a Water Engineer Do? This interactive presentation highlighted the types of services Carollo performs, as well as notable recent projects completed both nationally and in the Washington DC area.
  
• Wastewater Treatment Plant Virtual Tour. Using a 360-degree panorama video and a silicone viewfinder, this presentation brought DC Water’s Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant to the expo, giving attendees an up-close and personal virtual tour of the facility and featuring Carollo’s work on the plant’s primary clarifier upgrades.
  
• Conservation Pledge. Since the expo fell on World Water Day, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission joined Carollo’s booth and encouraged folks to sign a pledge to conserve water and learn more about this year’s theme: glacier preservation.

“The expo was exactly what we hoped for—an opportunity to turn student questions into genuine interest in water engineering careers and show the next generation that solving water challenges is both critically important and incredibly rewarding.”

—Leneyde Chavez
Carollo Cares Program Manager

Over 2,300 attendees of all ages engaged in the activities and asked questions as we combined fun and educational tasks with information about the real work we do. The expo provided a unique opportunity to connect with current and future STEM leaders throughout the country, provide mentorship through panels and round tables, and offer opportunities for participants to “get their hands wet” and learn more about this exciting industry.