Pleasanton Innovation Fair Brings Robots, Drones, Electric Buses and More This Weekend

A science and technology fair in Pleasanton this weekend will feature robot demonstrations, an electric bus, drones, and interactive engineering challenges involving electronics and building structures alongside a range of hands-on science experiments. Kids can make mini lava lamps, extract DNA from strawberries, and separate leaf pigments to learn about photosynthesis.

Quest Science Center, a nonprofit working to build a permanent science center in Livermore, is hosting its annual Tri-Valley Innovation Fair at the Alameda County Fairgrounds on April 18.

“[The fair] is our region’s largest celebration of science, technology, engineering, art, and innovation,” designed to bring together educators, engineers, scientists, artists and civic leaders into one space, said Michael Mosby, the organization’s executive director.

The event — originally held in downtown Livermore — was reimagined after the pandemic as a larger, more regional gathering for the Tri-Valley, which includes San Ramon, Amador and Livermore valleys spread across Contra Costa and Alameda County.

“The Innovation Fair shines a light on what’s right here,” said Monya Lane, who chairs the Quest Science Center board. “There’s so much to inspire young people and families about what is really here, right where they live.”

At the fair, the local science and tech ecosystem will be on display through more than 70 exhibitors, ranging from national labs and startups to schools and community organizations.

Visitors can design and launch small air-powered rockets to explore how force, pressure, and aerodynamics help a spacecraft leave Earth. Then take a look at our nearest star through telescopes and discover sunspots and other features on the surface of the Sun.

GILLIG, the country’s largest bus manufacturer, based in Livermore, plans to bring an electric bus from its Tri-Valley assembly line. Participants and aspiring engineers will be able to take part in a hands-on challenge with the team at GILLIG to explore how battery-pack selection affects real-world performances like mileage efficiency and route-ready range.

Visitors can explore booths from major research institutions like Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories, alongside hands-on science groups like the Chabot Space & Science Center, the Lawrence Hall of Science and UC Berkeley’s Seismology Lab.

The idea for Quest Science Center started in 2018, when a group of national lab retirees saw an opportunity to create something the region didn’t yet have: a science center in Livermore.

“We were in the give-back period of our lives,” Lane said. “We decided to go ahead and form the nonprofit, which at the time was called Livermore Science and Society Center. The idea was to have science be related to everything in our lives,” she said.

The City of Livermore agreed to include land for this new science center in Stockmen’s Park, and plans for a physical space were approved in early 2020 — and then the pandemic hit. Instead of pausing, the group pivoted into making what they call a “mobile science center,” which would bring hands-on science activities directly into the community. “We became a science center without walls,” Lane said.

“We exist to ignite curiosity and expand opportunity and help young people see themselves as future innovators,” Mosby said.

Organizers said the Tri-Valley Innovation Fair is designed for everyone. “There’s really something for people of all ages and all backgrounds, just like we intend for all of our science center activities and our long-term science center,” Lane said.

“Our unofficial mantra is: science is everywhere and science is for everyone,” she said.

The Tri-Valley Innovation Fair runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. Admission is free and open to the public.