[Originally published on makeitbetter.net. Read the original article here.]

Chicago is home to many of the world’s largest scientific powerhouses and one organization is making sure Chicagoans know about the cutting-edge work that is being conducted around them. The Chicago Council on Science and Technology (C2ST) works to increase the public’s understanding and appreciation of science and technology and their impact on society.

The council has grown to encompass much of the Chicago area and done its best to create a place where anyone from anywhere can come to learn. In the past 11 years, C2ST has developed quality public STEM programming that showed the wealth of science and technology talent in the region while clearly defining societal implications of the research showcased.

Today, C2ST plays a significant and expanding role in increasing the science and technology literacy of adults throughout the region. As scientific literacy among the U.S. adult population continues to remain low, and as the public dialogue continues to divide us, it is more important than ever to bring people together to listen and learn from experts from different fields.

Calling All Science Lovers

C2ST invites you to celebrate public STEM outreach. On Thursday, May 2, the Chicago Council on Science and Technology will hold our largest fundraising event of 2019: Science in the City. The evening supports C2ST’s outreach programs. Guests will mingle over a cocktail reception with heavy hors-d’oeuvres, silent auction, raffle, tours, and award ceremony.

This year, C2ST is proud to award three outstanding individuals with our “Advancing the Public Understanding of Science & Technology” award for their contributions to science in the city. C2ST created this award in 2012 to honor individuals who share in the passion and mission of the organization — to increase the awareness of the great R&D taking place in our region.

We will be honoring Wendy L. Freedman, a John and Marion Sullivan University Professor in Astronomy and Astrophysics at The University of Chicago, with a lifetime achievement award. A renowned astronomer, she was instrumental in precisely measuring the Hubble constant and determining the age of the universe. Wendy first rose to prominence leading the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project, which began in the mid-1980s and involved an international group of some 30 astronomers. The team used the Hubble telescope to study Cepheid variable stars in order to estimate intergalactic distances and thus determine the expansion rate of the universe.

Kimberly Moore, Founder and President of KDM Engineering, will receive our young professional award. Under Kimberly’s leadership, KDM Engineering has grown to more than 60 employees and has successfully completed work on hundreds of projects. Well known as a fierce supporter of women and minorities in STEM, she has assembled a uniquely diverse team at KDM and started a nonprofit, Calculated Genius, dedicated to helping underrepresented youth explore and connect to engineering.

C2ST will also acknowledge John Anderson, our outgoing board chair, as an honoree. His major awards include election to the National Academy of Engineering (1992), Guggenheim Fellow at MIT (1982-83), fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Engineering Award (2012). He is now the President-Elect of the National Academy of Engineers.

Join us as we celebrate public STEM outreach with community  members, academic and industry leaders, educators, and young professionals from across Chicagoland.