Program
Note: Program is subject to change.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 1
Thursday, 22 October, 2026
9:00am – 9:45am ET
Welcome
Join us for a Welcome session to kick-off the Summit. The session features Mary Ellen Randall, 2026 IEEE President, Tim Kurzweg, VP Educational Activities, and Tomislav Jagust, Chair, IEEE Pre-University Education Coordinating Committee.
9:45am – 10:00am ET
Break
10:00am – 11:00am ET
Existential Threats of AI
Speaker: Sergios Theodoridis, Emeritus Professor, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Every revolutionary technology that human civilization creates generates hopes and promises for a better future, but at the same time raises fears of potential dangers and poses new challenges for humanity.
According to Socrates, the ancient Greek philosopher, writing would destroy our memory. Then, printing would spread dangerous ideas, television would destroy our urge for conversations and sociability, the internet would destroy our ability to concentrate and to focus our attention. Although, as history later showed, some of the fears were justifiable, humanity was able to “domesticate” each technology by integrating it into the general culture and leading civilization on its evolutionary path. Each new technology gradually expanded our consciousness and the way in which we exist in the World.
Will this scenario continue with the new technology of Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Will humans “tame” this technology? Will we dominate it, expanding our consciousness, or will this new technology replace our consciousness and dominate the human being? Previous technologies presupposed the cognitive abilities of humans to function as tools. AI, however, targets our own cognitive abilities. What are the dangers that emerge for our very existence as autonomous beings, and what challenges must we face for maintaining our existential status intact?
11:00am – 11:15am ET
Break
11:15am – 12:15pm ET
Videogames: Developing the Next Generation of Engineers Through Engineering Practice
Speaker: David Gagnon, Director and Founder, Field Day at the University of Wisconsin Madison
For decades, educational researchers have explored how games create optimal learning experiences. Games allow learners to investigate problems, test solutions, fail (sometimes catastrophically), refine their approaches, and engage meaningfully in the practices of engineering.
At a time when our ability to predict complex systems is outpacing our ability to coordinate collective action, we need new ways to help people understand interconnected systems and their emotional consequences. This talk will introduce theoretical perspectives on learning through games and ground them in projects that teach biological and economic systems, thermodynamics, circuit fabrication, and eventually, Waterbound autonomous remotely operated vehicles.
12:15pm – 12:30pm ET
Break
12:30pm – 1:30pm ET
1:30pm – 1:45pm ET
Break
1:45pm – 2:15pm ET
Building Strong STEM Foundations: A MakerSpace Outreach Model to Support Early Engineering Learning
Speaker: Eleanor Walsh, Mathematician and STEM Outreach Manager at Mary Immaculate College
This session presents a MakerSpace-based outreach model that uses the Engineering Design Process to support early engagement with engineering in primary-aged learners in STEM education. Drawing on hands-on activities such as marble runs, robotics, and sustainability challenges, it highlights how design-based learning can foster creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration. Participants will explore practical strategies and adaptable approaches for embedding engineering thinking in both classroom and non-formal learning contexts.
2:15pm – 2:30pm ET
Break
2:30pm – 3:00pm ET
3:00pm – 3:15pm ET
Break
3:15pm – 3:45pm ET
Networking Session
Day 2
Friday, 23 October, 2026
7:45am – 8:30am ET
Networking Session
8:30am – 8:45am ET
Break
8:45am – 9:45am ET
9:45am – 10:00am ET
Break
10:00am – 11:00am ET
Fireside in Orbit: Candid STEM Conversations with Astronaut Dr. Jeffrey Hoffman
Speaker: Jeffrey Hoffman, Former NASA Astronaut and Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT
What does it take to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, generate oxygen on Mars, or prepare the next generation of engineers for space exploration? Join us for an interactive Q&A session with five-time NASA Space Shuttle astronaut and MIT professor Dr. Jeffrey Hoffman.
Logging over 1,000 hours in space, including key spacewalks on the historic mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, and helping pioneer the MOXIE experiment producing oxygen on Mars, Dr. Hoffman’s career bridges astrophysics, space operations, and engineering education. In this candid fireside chat, Dr. Hoffman will share insights on real-world problem-solving in extreme environments, the evolving landscape of aerospace technology, and the essential skills young innovators need to shape the future of STEM.
Attendees will gain actionable insights on bridging real-world aerospace challenges with classroom learning, with time reserved at the end for an interactive audience Q&A.
11:00am – 11:15am ET
Break
11:15am – 11:45am ET
Tinkering in the Age of AI
Speaker: Marwa Soudi, PhD Candidate at Tallinn University
This presentation makes the case for tinkering and constructionist learning as the defining pedagogical response to an AI-driven world. It draws on the theoretical foundation of my EdTech thesis (2019) rooted in Papert’s constructionism, Dewey’s progressive education, and the Reggio Emilia approach and shows how those principles are actively applied today in teacher and student training programs using IEEE TryEngineering materials as the hands-on vehicle.
Rather than treating TryEngineering lesson plans as scripts to follow, they are reframed as tinkering invitations open-ended starting points that teachers learn to facilitate without giving instructions, and that students learn to wrestle with through experimentation, iteration, and creative problem-solving. Teachers are trained to shift from classroom managers into learning partners: experiencing tinkering themselves first, designing open-ended missions, tolerating student frustration as a signal of learning, and linking hands-on making to real science and engineering concepts. Students are challenged from the first minute with no manuals, no step-by-step guides and guided to build, fail, reflect, and build again.
The central argument is that in an age where AI can instruct anyone, anywhere, anytime, the irreplaceable human skill is the ability to tinker with the unknown. IEEE TryEngineering materials, when facilitated through a constructor mindset, become the ideal tool to develop exactly that capacity preparing both educators and learners not just for STEM careers, but for a complex, uncertain, and rapidly changing future.
11:45am – 12:00pm ET
Break
12:00pm – 12:30pm ET
AI-Assisted STEM Storytelling: Interactive Multimedia, Simulations, and Reusable Learning for STEM Outreach
Speaker: John Santiago, IEEE Region 5 Educational Activities Coordinator
This presentation demonstrates how AI-assisted multimedia storytelling, interactive STEM simulations, and reusable digital learning resources can help IEEE volunteers create more engaging and scalable STEM outreach experiences for pre-university students.
The session combines hands-on STEM demonstrations, AI-assisted explanations, interactive STEM content, storytelling-based learning, and HTML5-style interactive learning concepts to help students better visualize and remember STEM concepts.
12:30pm – 12:45pm ET
Break
12:45pm – 1:30pm ET
1:30pm – 2:00pm ET
Closing Ceremony
Join us as we close out STEM Summit 2026.