when it comes to sure signs that spring has arrived in aggieland there are budding bradford pears bluebonnets monarch butterflies and texas a&m universitys annual physics and engineering festival although the 2015 version of the free annual event (view promotional poster online) is still more than a month away officials encourage the public to plan early for increasingly popular daylong educational extravaganza set for saturday march 28 from 10 am to 5 pm at the george p mitchell 40 physics building on the texas a&m campus activities will begin at 10 am with hands-on science exhibitions and engineering technology demonstrations and conclude with a 4 pm public lecture by world-renowned string theorist and author dr brian greene whose national bestseller the elegant universe sold more than a million copies and became an emmy and peabody award-winning nova special that paved the way for his revolutionary career in science communications world-famous string theorist and author brian greene will deliver the festivals 4 pm keynote public lecture and also narrate icarus at the edge of time as part of the brazos valley symphony orchestras 7:30 pm special performance of in a galaxy far far away make a date for free family fun and experience the many wonders of science and technology at the 2015 physics and engineering festival set for saturday march 28 from 10 am to 5 pm at texas a&m university! as a bonus feature to this years festival directly tied to greene the department of physics and astronomy is teaming up with the brazos valley symphony orchestra to present greenes illustrated novella icarus at the edge of time the mesmerizing tale narrated by greene will mark the grand finale in a broader once-in-a-lifetime production in a galaxy far far away set for 7:30 pm at rudder auditorium tickets which range from $39 for general admission or $13 for students are available online through the memorial student center box office or via telephone at (979) 845-1234 or toll-free at (888) 890-5667 a number of free tickets will be made available to festival participants with details soon to come via the festival website all events are hosted by the department of physics and astronomy and the department of aerospace engineering in partnership with several other campus units including the departments of chemistry mathematics and atmospheric sciences as well as the brazos valley museum of natural history throughout the day festival participants are encouraged to unleash their inner scientists aboard a square-wheeled bicycle run through a pool of cornstarch and try their hands at generating electricity or shooting balloons with lasers four of the more than 100 fun experiments and displays illustrating basic scientific and engineering technology-related concepts and principles all exhibits are manned by texas a&m faculty staff and students for the third consecutive year the festival will showcase dozens of exciting new demonstrations built by student teams affiliated with the university-funded deep (discover explore and enjoy physics and engineering) program hundreds of deep students undergraduate and graduate have been involved in creating the new demos during the years and many will be on hand to present their work in addition to exhibits the daylong festival will feature three bubble shows (11 am 1 pm 2:30 pm) by internationally acclaimed bubble artist and physics showman keith johnson whose work has been featured on the discovery channel and in usa today and real simple family attendees also will have the opportunity to meet nobel prize-winning texas a&m physicists dr david m lee and dr dudley r herschbach as well as nasa astronaut and professor dr gregory chamitoff a former flight engineer and science officer aboard the international space station who in 2011 performed the final spacewalk of the overall space shuttle program in three successive lecture sessions scheduled for 11 am 1 pm and 2 pm respectively in the stephen w hawking auditorium at 4 pm greene will deliver a keynote presentation dreams of a unified theory: einstein and beyond that examines the work on legendary physicist albert einstein specifically his dreams of a single theory perhaps encapsulated by a single mathematical equation capable of explaining all of natures forces greene will take the audience on a whirlwind journey across 300 years of thinking from state-of-the-art to the frontiers of physics in a thought-provoking probe of the deepest laws that govern our universe prior to saturdays events eric berger science writer for the houston chronicle will deliver a free public lecture adrift: does america have a future in space on friday (march 27) at 7 pm in the hawking auditorium tickets are not required for the event in which berger will discuss his insight gained during the past year in which he worked on a special seven-part series adrift addressing the state of americas space program berger author of the popular sciguy blog since 2005 and a pulitzer prize finalist in 2009 will touch on myriad related subjects from the collapse of the constellation program and shifting white house priorities to the promise of private space companies and ultimately houstons fate as space city all events are sponsored by a texas a&m tier one program (top) grant the department of physics and astronomy the department of aerospace engineering the george p and cynthia woods mitchell institute for fundamental physics and astronomy and the texas a&m college of science in addition bb&t (branch banking and trust) corporation has provided generous support to help underwrite greenes visit the event is an affiliate festival of the 4th annual usa science and engineering festival as well as a member of the science festival alliance for the latest details regarding the 2015 physics & engineering festival including event directions and parking information please visit http://physicsfestivaltamuedu -atm- watch a recap video from the 2014 physics & engineering festival on youtube: contact: shana k hutchins (979) 862-1237 or shutchins@sciencetamuedu or dr tatiana erukhimova (979) 845-5644 or etanya@physicstamuedu