An estimated 30,000 people stopped by Rochester Institute of Technology on Saturday to explore hundreds of exhibits as part of the university’s 12th annual Imagine RIT.

From a human hamster wheel, to a mini-amusement park, more than 400 exhibits across the campus showed off science, technology, and math on Saturday.

 

“The future is STEM, you know? Science, technology, engineering and mat,” said lecturer Garret Arcoraci.

And perhaps one exhibit that expressed the STEM spirit best was the Computer Petting Zoo, seeking to teach children about how those fields come together to operate everything from TV remotes, self-driving cars, and video games.

“It’s much more exciting when you can make it hands on, and they can interact with it and see how those things work together,” Arcoraci said.

And for 9-year-old Aidan, and his 7-year-old sister Emma, it was a lot of fun.

“Technology is actually interesting because it can evolve easier, and plus you can do a bunch of cool stuff with it,” Aidan said.

He says it was neat to learn more about the world around them.

“It made it easier to understand for me to do it, rather than somebody going to this, do that, I can go around freely,” Aidan said.

That’s exactly why their father, Scott Richards, brought them to the event.

“I think it’s great watching the kids learn," Scott said. "I’ll try to put them in as many learning situations as I can.”

“If you can imagine it, you can do it," Arcoraci said. "You just need the tools, the knowledge and the skills to do it.”