The Past, the Future, and NOW

Tim Fino, 2002-2003 Fair Director

(Past ISEF2000 president and past Science Fair participant)

A short time ago (May 13, 2000 to be exact), Detroit hosted the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) at Cobo Center. This event included over 1,000 students from 47 different countries in competition for nearly $2 million in prizes and awards. The week long event showcased Detroit with students participating in judging (with over 1,100 judges worldwide), fun activities (mixers at Comerica Park and Henry Ford Museum), and technical tours (Automobile design centers, assembly plants, medical research). And while I would like to think that Detroit was ‘special’, this International Science Fair continues year after year in different cities. Yet in each host city, the overall structure and award potential is about the same and in fact, improves from year to year. Each city and its respective host committee plans to honor the bright young minds of tomorrow.

But it all STARTS with the local school fair. Each year in the Detroit Metro area, there are over 400 school science fairs – all with the same purpose – to showcase students’ projects and provide a learning opportunity for the science and engineering technical fields. Many of the schools that have school fairs send their top students to the ‘regional’ Science Fair – this fair – at Cobo Center in the spring. The top 8 high school students are selected to attend the International Science Fair and the top 40 students are invited to attend the Statewide Science Fair competition (where an additional two students are selected to attend the ISEF). At EACH step of the competition, there are significant awards that are presented – including full four year scholarships to various universities in the area!

What better way to learn about science than to design and carry out an experiment using the same techniques that all major scientific research uses (the scientific method) and then to discuss that project with peers and judges. Several students who ‘did not like science’ eventually did a science fair project and along the way, found out that their original hypothesis (‘did not like science’) may have been incorrect.

Get involved with this year’s Science Fair and enjoy a challenging and rewarding experience!