The Sweet Science

As the brains behind Wondergy, Ken Fink has designs on a better, more curious world.

by J.F. Pirro

When Ken Fink was 3, he untied his shoelaces, then stuck the plastic-coated ends into an electrical outlet. "It hurt," recalls Fink bluntly. But rather than scare him out of exploring, "I learned to be careful and that things around you are very interesting, more than they appear."

FANTASTIC FINK: Wondergy's Ken Fink uses science to torch a marshmallow in the manner of superheroes and mutants.   Jaques-Jean Tiziou / jjtiziou.net  (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

By elementary school, the native of River Edge, N.J., was taking apart anything he could get his hands on. He searched desperately for anyone or anything (besides his parents, who encouraged him) to feed his insatiable curiosity; he was often sent to the principal's office for asking "why" too often. It left him believing he was a "closet geek who wasn't very good at being in the closet."

These days, as an all-out performer, the 29-year-old caters to the inherent curiosity of all ages as president and founder of Wondergy, his Philadelphia-based "science edu-tainment" company. Fink offers live events, curriculum and exhibit design, and professional development for educators.

If not for two transformational experiences later in childhood, Fink might never have continued to engage in experimentation.

He remembers the remuneration he felt as an 8-year-old at Disney World's Epcot Center, a "temple that pays homage to science and technology," he says.

"I realized, then, that I was on an acceptable track," Fink says. "It was only my immediate world that didn't support me — and this is what happens to lots of kids. They're told it's not cool to be curious, whether it's in poetry, music or science. So where do you find someone to tell you it's cool?"

His second eye-opener came at a sixth-grade Franklin Institute school assembly on electricity. In one demonstration, he held the end of a fluorescent tube. When it lit up, so did he — "so that's my goal now, to provide that kind of accessibility [to science]."

"Edu-tainment is the right word," he says. "The education, the satisfaction of curiosity, is the entertainment."

Fink's Wondergy will take center stage from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. Feb. 3 to 4 at Sweet Treats Weekend at the Blue Cross RiverRink at Penn's Landing on Columbus Boulevard at Market Street. His act will focus on two sweet treats, ice cream and cotton candy, which he'll make — and explain the science behind. It's his "Cool Science" program. Other Wondergy programs include SoundScience, ColorScience, ScienceFX and CentrifugalScience.

At the rink, he'll combine liquid nitrogen, which boils at 320 degrees below zero, with cream, milk, chocolate and other flavors to make ice cream in lickety-split time: He can freeze up to 40 servings in 30 seconds.

While nitrogen's bonds are so weak they can boil cold, sugar has such strong bonds that it freezes at around 300 degrees above zero. So if you melt sugar and throw it through the air in thin strands, it freezes as it flies, making cotton candy. Water bonds somewhere in between, making it great for an ice rink.

"The rink is nothing more than a big old ice cube," Fink says. "Water molecules are sticky; when they get cold, they slow down enough to stick to each other and become ice."

Participants can work off the treats Fink makes by skating. All Sweet Treats activities, which will also include chocolate chip cookie eating contests, cupcake stacking, edible candy crafts and confection demonstrations, are free (except for skating sessions, which cost $6 per person plus $3 rentals).

Philly, Fink says, with the Franklin Institute and other museums, not to mention its ties to Ben Franklin himself, is science-friendly. In 2004, he co-wrote much of the ninth-grade physical science curriculum for the School District of Philadelphia. Fittingly, the office building where he rents space, at 36th and Market streets, is called The Science Center and is populated by people who regularly talk science in the halls.

When he first began Wondergy, Fink found himself presenting at lots of Title 1 schools in New Jersey. Often, he was "the only white face in a room of 700 faces." He realized, then, he had to convince others that "science isn't only for middle-class whites."

Another of his goals is demystifying the science behind ordinary objects and phenomenon — like cell phones or sweat— sans scientific jargon. Sometimes it appears he's undermining the importance of science, since he wears 3-D glasses and the stereotypical white lab coat for comedic effect, but he says he's no magician or comedian. He's just Ken, and not even "The Funny Guy Who Blows Things Up."

Much of what he does — floating bowling balls, sinking helium balloons and customizing computer-animated laser shows — looks dangerous. It is, but he's also done extensive research first. He's opposed to the carte blanche "don't try this at home" warning. His advice? "Just don't do it without first asking someone who seriously knows what they're doing!"

If there's a challenge to what he does — because Fink's got his science down — it's that history rarely reveals scientists who are also accomplished businessmen. Part and parcel of his education — he's completed Wharton School's marketing management program at Penn and earned an M.S. in science instruction at Drexel after studying physics and music as an undergraduate at Columbia — Fink aims to marry his creativity and its distribution.

"I'm no charity case," he says. "I'm changing the world. I'm doing sustainable work."

As a party entertainer — he once had a 40-show tour of India and "edu-tained" the Cornell Alumni Association Jan. 20 at Citizens Bank Park, but is also a regular at birthday parties and Boy Scout gatherings — jokingly he says he's proudly become a viable alternative to Chuck E. Cheese.

His clients don't have to be scientist wannabes, but they should want to ask questions and avoid assumptions. As such, Fink believes he can help produce better voters and forge a better society, or at least mold people who aren't afraid to be curious.

"No one can educate someone the way they can educate themselves," he says. "My goal is to light a fire, then hope they'll do more investigations on their own; that they'll keep playing and learn that everyone is a scientist, everything has science and science is a culture."

(j_pirro@citypaper.net)

For information on Wondergy, visit www.wondergy.com or call 1-86-MOLECULE. For information on Sweet Treats, Feb. 3 and 4, call 215-925-RINK or visit www.riverrink.com.