Michigan Science Center Unveils Traveling Van Donated By Ford

Michigan Science Center showed off its new Traveling MiSci Van, a 2014 Ford Transit Connect van donated by Ford Motor Company on Thursday, August 7 in Detroit.

MiSci President and CEO, Tonya M. Matthews, Ph.D. told the story of how the two groups came together on the project, "We talked to them about the fact that we wanted to go more places in the state of Michigan they said, 'Hey, we make cars.'"

What does the science center hope to accomplish with the new set of wheels? MiSci Outreach Coordinator, Charlie Gibson said, "We bring all kinds of hands on workshops and presentations to schools all over the state of Michigan." The Fizz, Bang, Traveling Science program which runs through Aug. 31, 2014 will answer questions like "why do things explode?" and give children the chance to build rockets and learn about chemical reactions.

"We're hoping to reach kids everywhere, of every interest, of every flavor and convince them that actually engineering is pretty cool. Technology is even cooler and there's art, creativity and design in all of it," Dr. Matthews added.

Ford Motor Company Group VP of Global Product Development, Raj Nair describes the contribution as supporting future employees. "Michigan Science Center does such a great job inspiring children to be the engineers and scientists of tomorrow. We at Ford are always looking for great talent and we know that these kids are going to be a great source," he said.