Innovation Festival

Join us for a festival for the whole family that celebrates the accomplishments of American inventors and the spirit of innovation that has led to so many of today's technologies. Exhibits, crafts, talks, and performances will showcase ingenuity at the Smithsonian and across America. Meet inventors and the patent examiners who worked with them on their inventions, hear directly from experts about how an idea is molded into a working product, and try your hand at making your own invention. 

The Innovation Festival will feature examples of innovations across the Smithsonian as well as ten exhibits by companies on the cutting edge of innovation:

• Caterpillar will showcase a broad range of technologies, including telepresence operation of construction equipment.
• Ford Motor Company will demonstrate how an inflatable seatbelt works.
• OxySure Systems, Inc. will present new medical technology designed to improve administration of emergency oxygen.
• 3D Systems will showcase a 3D printer, which will create a three dimensional model as visitors watch.
• U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service will demonstrate their method for detecting an economically important plant virus.
• Qualcomm will feature some of their most recent innovations, including why and how your smartphone works, and the future of wireless technology.
• The National Air and Space Museum will demonstrate makerspace wind tunnel activity.
• The National Museum of American History's Spark!Lab will present activities that challenge visitors to invent a video game controller, a rolling robot, or a device that can drive along a wire.
• The National Museum of Natural History will present two activities from their dynamic, interactive and experimental space, Q?rius, about butterflies and smells.
• And more innovations from a wide variety of fields.

The Innovation Festival is made possible through the generous support and collaboration of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.