Building on the momentum of last year’s theme “Break the System” this year’s theme, “Man & Machines” examines a world shaped by complex, interdependent systems. While the first two Industrial Revolutions marked humanity’s first great mechanical leap forward, they also initiated an era of systemic environmental crisis. As we evolved from hand tools to horsepower, and from steam to combustion, the costs to the natural world are increasingly clear: industrial pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, and ecosystems pushed to collapse.

The Georgetown Steam Plant—once a triumph of industrial power—serves as a fitting stage for our exploration. Its massive GE Vertical Curtis Turbines stand as enduring symbols of an era when machines were defined by steel, steam, and visible mechanical force. In contrast, many of today’s machines and emerging systems operate largely out of sight: silicon-based data infrastructure, algorithms, neural networks, and advanced AI systems that function at the speed of computation and are scaling rapidly across global networks.

While Industry 3.0 set the course for digital transformation, Industry 4.0 has accelerated information to unprecedented speeds. As our systems grow increasingly complex, the interface between human limitation and machine capability has become a defining challenge of our era. As nature-based systems fracture, we look both to the past for guidance and to our newest technological innovations for potential solutions. Yet, this partnership is not without risk.

This is the age of integration: Will our modern machines become our partners, our tools, our extensions—or our replacements? 

The 2026 Georgetown Steam Plant Science Fair extends this trajectory—tracing our industrial evolution from the mechanical spectacle of the 20th century, through the computational revolution of the 21st, and toward the urgent adaptation and mitigation strategies required to navigate our rapidly changing world.

The Georgetown Steam Plant was built on the logic of the machine. This year, we are returning to the foundation of every system: the people. To bring global challenges down to human scale, this year’s Science Fair spotlights The Village—a celebration of urban life. Rooted in the industrial landscapes of the Duwamish River Valley, The Village invites us to imagine new ways to live, work, and play, asking what a community-driven future could look like right here at home. 

Rather than engaging technology in abstract or distant terms, The Village centers our exploration where life actually unfolds: in our neighborhoods, workplaces, cultural institutions, and shared civic spaces.

Grounded in lived experiences and reimagined futures, The Village honors Seattle’s First People, the Duwamish, and their enduring relationship to this land and the Duwamish River. By foregrounding Indigenous knowledge and local histories, The Village intentionally reframes large-scale technological and environmental challenges as opportunities for restoration, regeneration, and economic resilience.

In The Village students, artists, engineers, scientists, elders, and neighbors are invited to work together—not simply to exhibit projects, but to co-design solutions. Together, we will test ideas, share knowledge, and envision how a new economic and Industrial Revolution holds the potential to pave the way towards regenerative landscapes rooted in equity and shared stewardship.

What would the communities of the Lower Duwamish River look like if our mission statements were fully realized?

For too long, the story of the Duwamish has been defined by its industrial legacy. Now, we are shifting that narrative—asking how the lower Duwamish River communities can move from a history of industry and pollution toward a future grounded in ecological health, cultural recognition, climate adaptation, economic transformation and inclusion.

Environmental Justice is not a passive goal; it begins with participation and  gains momentum in partnerships. It ensures that the communities most impacted by environmental harm are the ones leading the restoration and benefiting from the innovation.

If this challenge feels complex, the response must be collective. Community resilience is built through collaboration. New workforce pathways are forged through practice, experimentation, and disruption. At the foundation of every system—before the machines—are the people: observing, learning, making, and imagining what comes next.