Greetings! Please follow these steps to register:

• Step 1. Pay $25 per attendee. Please pay through this BlackPug Registration page
• Step 2. Complete your registration using this link https://socalstemnova.org
• Step 3. Watch + read + download the material below.

STEM Nova Next Big Thing! Award + Drafting Merit Badge & Digital Technology Merit Badge.
Attend both sessions at Caltech on Saturday, September 13, 2025 10am-3pm and Saturday, October 11, 2025 10am - 3pm. Park for free in any numbered, unnamed parking spot in the Holliston Parking Structure, 370 S. Holliston Ave., Pasadena and follow the signs to our building. Scouts should arrive ten minutes early in Class A with a water bottle and brown bag lunch. 

Be prepared! Before attending the class:

NEXT BIG THING

• Read. What is Product Design? https://newschoolarch.edu/what-is-product-design/ 
• Read. Why 'Painstorming' is the New Brainstorming https://www.inc.com/soren-kaplan/why-painstorming-is-new-brainstorming.html
• Watch. This is why we can’t have nice things https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5v8D-alAKE
• Watch. The world is poorly designed. But copying nature helps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMtXqTmfta0

Digital Technology 

• Watch. Birth of the Computer (8:39) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvLeYb2b0xw
• Watch. Digital vs. Analog (7:11) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWdT-6Ld71Q
• Watch. How Image Compression Works (6:51) https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Ba89cI9eIg8
• Watch. Digital Audio Explained (1:29) https://youtu.be/g3tfly9mKhY
• Watch. Crash Course in computing history (11:53)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xdmEwTIsd0 

Drafting

• Watch. Why Blueprints are Blue (2:58) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11eKSlkT2qg
• Watch. The Joy of Hand Drawing Machining Prints (22:05) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtchhV7aV7Q
• Watch. FreeCAD Tutorial for Beginners 2024 (23:47) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8nPF-qWyfE&list=PLUrr_kHPp4vimEl_M7ADh7cwd2B3Jr7mo&index=90
• Download. FreeCAD.org  (unless you use a different CAD program, which is fine!)