The October Café, “Fermentation and Fizzy Foods,” will explore the science behind some of the foods and beverages that bubble, ferment and transform. Luks will introduce teens to the chemistry and processes behind fermentation and carbonation while connecting everyday foods to the science and engineering used to understand and create them.

Luks is a Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor and associate chair in Missouri S&T’s Linda and Bipin Doshi Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering. She has been a member of the Missouri S&T faculty since 2014 and was named a Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor in 2025 in recognition of her excellence in teaching.  

Luks also served as President of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) during 2025–26, a national organization dedicated to advancing innovation, excellence and access in engineering education. In that role, she emphasized the importance of adaptable approaches to teaching and creating pathways that help more students succeed in engineering. 

Her focus on teaching and helping students develop both technical skills and confidence makes Luks a natural fit for the Teen Science Café. Her October presentation will give teens an opportunity to look at familiar foods from a new perspective and discover how science and engineering can explain what happens during fermentation and what makes foods and drinks fizzy.

The October session will include a presentation by Luks followed by questions, discussion and opportunities for teens to interact with the science behind the topic. Participants will be encouraged to bring their curiosity and questions as they explore how science can transform everyday ingredients into foods and flavors they know and enjoy.

The Teen Science Café is part of Kaleidoscope Discovery Center’s mission to provide hands-on learning in science, technology, engineering, art and math that inspires youth to Imagine. Explore. Create. Through informal, conversational gatherings, participants engage with experts, ask questions and gain insight into STEM fields and the many ways science and engineering connect to everyday life.