MILWAUKEE – A showdown of the state’s top high school students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) takes place Saturday, March 22, at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM).
Seventy students are expected at this year’s Badger State Science and Engineering Fair, presented by the Wisconsin Science Education Foundation. The activities get underway at 8:20 a.m. in the second-floor Wisconsin Room of the UWM Union, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd.
Beginning at 6 p.m., Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch will speak about STEM education and then present the Governor’s Award as part of the awards ceremony in the Union Theatre. (See the complete schedule below.)
The fair’s grand-prize winners will advance to the world’s largest pre-college celebration of science – the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angles, sponsored by Intel Corporation. There they will compete with 1,600 students from all over the globe for $4 million in scholarships, tuition grants, internships and other prizes.
The fair serves an important purpose because although many middle schools host science fairs for their students, far fewer exist at the high-school level, says Fair Director Jim Jaeschke.
Judging is done in two phases. The judges first look at each project without the students present. “The second look is done with the students so that the judges get a feel as to what they understand about the science and the tools that they used in their project,” says Jaeschke.
The fair is sponsored by UWM, Nordco, CH2M HILL, ASQ Milwaukee, Symbiont, Four Points by Sheraton, the Milwaukee School of Engineering and Marian University. For more information, go to www.bssef.org.
SCHEDULE
7:15-8:15 a.m. – Set up and registration
8:15-9:45 a.m. – Judging without the students
9:45-11:45 a.m. – Judging of the project with the students present
2-3:45 p.m. – Judging with the students present
4-5:30 p.m. – Public viewing of the projects. Students dismissed from Wisconsin Room
6-7:30 p.m. – Awards Ceremony in the adjacent Union Theatre
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(CONTACT: Jim Jaeschke, jim@e-s-c.org, 262-844-9894.)