For 14 years, Beehive Science and Technology Academy turns science into a hands-on playground for students, families and curious visitors. At this year’s annual Utah STEMFest, the tradition continued, filling the event with experiments, demonstrations and student projects designed to make science engaging and accessible.

From swirling fire tornados to clouds forming inside bottles, STEMFest gave attendees a chance to see concepts come to life. One student showed floating dry erase drawings that appeared to drift through water while another showed how bubbles could bounce. Outside the Mountain America Exposition Center, a solstice party allowed participants to explore the skies.

Many of the 900 exhibits came from students, with more than 800 from Beehive Academy.

At one exhibit, Beehive eighth-grader Aliham Akhmedov demonstrated a working hydraulic hand made of more than 230 parts. Tubes, syringes and connected components allowed the mechanical fingers to bend and grasp objects using water pressure.

“I was always fascinated with robotics as a kid and I liked to see robots, like Transformers moves, so when I saw this project, I thought it would be great to demonstrate how hydraulic power works,” he said.

The project took three days to build.

“It was tedious to create it, but I pushed through and did it,” Aliham said. “I like the concept of STEM and being able to use robotics and science to create things and operate things like this.”

The hand works using scientific principles, he explained to a family who stopped by.

“One thing a lot of people learn, and I even learned, liquid cannot be compressed so it resorts to creating pressure and pressure is what is used to move the fingers,” he said. “Hydraulic systems are used in industries like construction, mechanics, mining, robotics and heavy machinery with larger things like excavators, elevators and car lifts.”

Aliham spent time researching the science behind it.

“I looked into how does hydraulic power work? Why does it work? What is the concept? What is the method? How can my fingers use water to make this hand move? As I learned that, it really fascinated me because how could you use water to power this?” he said.

The event piqued the interest of younger visitors, include 4-year-old Reese and his 7-year-old sister Tempe, who were joined by their mother, Kira Blain.

“I like my kids are engaged and interested in science,” she said as they were especially fascinated by experiments with bubbles and dry ice. “We do experiments at home and they’re interested in doing more activities. Science helps them understand the world and themselves.”

Since the STEMFest began, it has grown significantly, said Beehive Science and Technology Academy Principal Hanifi Oguz. This year’s event, sponsored by the U.S. Navy, included 30 college and industry exhibits and more robotics and engineering demonstrations.

While the public sees the demonstrations, Oguz said the work behind student presentations takes months.

“What you see here is the end product,” he said. “All year, they have been working, exploring, researching, doing demonstrations and presenting, understanding the technology aspects of it,” he said. “Now, coming here to present to the public is the capstone. For many kids, putting them in this culture, you will see in the future, they’ll go further. This is fun being involved and once they taste that, it leads to more.”

Students show and explain a variety of science and technology projects at the 14th annual Utah STEMFest. (Julie Slama/City Journals)