Doctor Geek is coming to the South Florida Museum for a one-day event exploring scientific progress through history and into the future. Doctor Geek’s Science Fair will be the first live in-person event for the star of Doctor Geek’s Laboratory of Applied Geekdom, a STEM-focused podcast dedicated to scientific education and wonder, and the South Florida Museum is transforming its grounds for a full scientific expo with panelists, games and special presentations.

“The more we talked about it, the more we realized that the museum was perfectly designed to have this great conversation about man’s technology in the past, present and future,” said Samantha Sprague, curator of education for the South Florida Museum. “Together we built this collaborative science fair as a celebration of how not just the technology of the past, but also the science fiction, brought us to where we are today.”

Guests can begin with Doctor Geek’s Welcome Show, an orientation of sorts laying out the themes and opportunities of the day, before moving to one of the fair’s several panels featuring visiting scientists and experts from NASA, Bright House Networks, The Orlando Ghostbusters and USF Robotics Interest groups. With names like “Exploring the Future,” “The Science of Fiction” and “The Science of Applied Geekdom,” guests can attend assured of a fun time, with a focus on engagement, not lecturing.

Continuing in that vein and that spirit dictates the day’s activities, with shows such as “Perfect Little Planet” and “Passport to the Universe” showing throughout the day in SFM’s freshly revamped planetarium, with entrance included in admission for the day, and the inaugural Applied Geekdom competition “The Geek Games.”

Open to students aged 6-16, “The Geek Games” pits contestants and teams against each other and against the cold physics of space in multiple competitions, including two from NASA. “Touchdown on the Red Planet” challenges students to properly engineer and design their own Mars Rover and explore the planet, while “Roving on the Moon” asks participants to orchestrate their own moon landing. Registration for the Games is required and can be done at the door, but space is limited so calling ahead is recommended.

But Doctor Geek and the planetarium aside, the event promises even more stars, as "H.G. Wells" and his time machine are slated to make an appearance alongside friend and author "Jules Verne," to lead a tour through the history of technological progress and imagination. Guests can explore archaeology and geology with Wells and Verne as they conduct research for Journey to the Centre of the Earth, or step into the Nautilus (the newly transformed SFM board room) to explore the oceans or trek upstairs to learn about man’s mastery of the planet and Around the World in 80 Days.

“Everybody has a vision and has ideas and we are where we are today in the modern world because of that,” said Sprague. “In that way, Jules Verne is a great tour guide to show us that science fiction can become science fact.”

A representative from D&B Comics will also be on hand throughout the day, talking about the importance of science fiction and challenging attendees to try their hand at creating their own comic book science fiction world full of imagined technology and places.

Doctor Geek’s Science Fair begins Saturday, Sept. 27 at 10am at the South Florida Museum and ends at 7pm that evening. General Admission is $10 and Priority Access (guarantees panel and special Planetarium presentation seating) is $10 in advance or $15 at the door.