Youth discover new dreams at El Paso Science Festival

Community News

El Paso, Texas, Foundation
MPC Refining Chemist Marcos Farfan creates chemical reactions by mixing iodine and vitamin C, illustrating how changes in chemical properties are used to identify unknown materials in the refinery.
  • The inaugural El Paso Science Festival allowed more than 10,000 students and parents to see scientific principles in action and learn about careers in technological fields.
  • The free, two-day event included more than 70 exhibit spaces with interactive demonstrations as well as several speakers, including former astronaut José Hernández.
  • Marathon Petroleum helped make it possible with a $20,000 grant and employee volunteers who conducted experiments to illustrate concepts and practices from the refining industry.   

The El Paso Science Festival strives to inspire children to envision themselves as future scientists, and it appears this mission was accomplished at the recent event.

“One student said he had no idea what he wanted to be when he grew up, but, after seeing all the activities at our booth, he came up to me to tell me he was so excited to be a chemist because our experiments were so exciting,” said Refining Engineer Katlyn Porter from Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s (MPC) El Paso refinery. 

“One student came up to me to tell me he was so excited to be a chemist because our experiments were so exciting.”

MPC employee volunteers staffed one of more than 70 exhibit spaces at the inaugural, two-day festival that provided interactive demonstrations of scientific principles and promoted educational and career opportunities in technological fields. The more than 10,000 K-12 students and parents who attended also heard from guest speakers, including international scientists and engineers such as former astronaut José Hernández. 

MPC Refining Engineering Intern Abigail McDonald demonstrates the impacts of sudden changes in vapor pressure through an experiment in which aluminum cans are crushed by heating water in them until it boils and then quickly cooling the cans with cold water. 
MPC Maintenance Supervisor Israel Villa (left) and Refining Engineer Antonio Labrada (right) use a clear pump to demonstrate fluid mechanics and how they apply at refineries.

MPC provided a $20,000 grant to help stage the citywide, free event, which resulted from collaboration between local educational leaders, business executives and the El Paso Community Foundation. Many of MPC’s employee volunteers came from the refinery’s Education and Outreach Committee (EOC). This group works with community organizations and local schools to advance science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.

MPC’s exhibit space was one of more than 70 at the inaugural, two-day science festival where interactive demonstrations helped highlight educational and career opportunities in technological fields.

“I am motivated to volunteer to help show the youth how much fun science can be and to interest them in careers in STEM,” said MPC Refining Engineer Allison Becker.

Becker, Porter and more than a dozen of their EOC colleagues arranged stations in MPC’s exhibit space, allowing families to engage with experiments and demonstrations that highlighted concepts and practices from the refining industry:

  • A chemist from the refinery’s laboratory explained lab testing procedures that involve observing color changes by mixing different solutions. Liquid extracted from boiling cabbage served as a pH indicator that was mixed with vinegar to produce a color change.
  • In another experiment, aluminum cans were crushed by heating water in them until it boiled and then quickly cooling the cans with cold water. This illustrated the force of vapor pressure and the need to prevent sudden temperature changes in refining equipment to avoid damage.
  • Students also were allowed to play with pump controls while engineers explained the mechanics of fluid flow and how they apply at refineries.
MPC Refining Chemist Marcos Farfan performs a lab experiment to show pH changes, using red cabbage as an indicator and common household bases like baking soda, acids like vinegar and the carbonic acid created from dry ice.  
MPC Refining Engineer Antonio Labrada explains the concept of magnetics and how refinery teams employ it when inspecting refinery equipment for failures or cracks. 

"Marathon Petroleum’s generous support was pivotal to the success of the first El Paso Science Festival. The company’s dedicated employee volunteers provided invaluable science demonstrations that undoubtedly sparked the scientific curiosity of children and their parents alike,” said El Paso Science Festival Co-Director and Founder Enrique Gomez. “We're excited to make this festival a permanent feature in El Paso, and we deeply appreciate Marathon Petroleum’s commitment to community and education."