Obama's inner geek: robots to flying marshmallows

WASHINGTON — For a president who promotes technology at every opportunity, Barack Obama often strikes an awed, self-effacing pose in the presence of technicians, scientists and high tech machinery.

"If I'm nodding, you should just assume that everything you said is going completely over my head," he once told winners of a New York science fair.

Still, he loves the stuff.

At no point has his inner geek been more evident than on Tuesday as he mischievously — "The Secret Service is going to be mad at me about this" — helped fire an eighth-grader's award winning high-speed marshmallow air cannon at the drapes of the White House's elegant State Dining Room.

From factory floors to classrooms, from high-tech centers to the White House residence itself, Obama steeps himself in the innovative, sometimes feigning interest while at others showing genuine delight.

He dons safety goggles to tour manufacturing plants with state of the art equipment. He steps gingerly around scooting robots built by teenage engineers. And, like many a dad, he helps his daughters with their science projects, even dropping eggs from the White House's Truman Balcony to test the optimal soft landing.

To be sure, touring factories and schools is a staple of presidencies. But Obama, a Harvard University-trained lawyer, has placed greater emphasis on technology by making the point that in an era of scarce resources, government still must play a role investing in three key areas: research and development, innovation and education.

On Tuesday, Obama hosted the second White House Science Fair, an exhibit of more than 30 student projects that ranged from a system to detect nuclear threats to a prosthetic hand to portable disaster shelters. For nearly an hour, Obama toured the displays and visited with students, pressing them for details and admiring their work.

At factory or fair, Obama's reaction can range from bemusement to enchantment.

During a recent trip to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Obama examined an enormous conveyor screw used to transport foodstuffs. "What do you do to keep it so shiny?" he finally asked.

At an Alcoa plant in Davenport, Iowa, in June, Obama observed machines that milled aerospace parts. He then approached a handful of reporters who had been watching nearby: "Did you know aluminum is not magnetic? I learned something today."