WANTED:
Science Professionals to Judge "Pre-Intel" Science Fair

( December 18, 2002 ) Athletes have the Olympics; high school science students have the Intel Science Talent Search competition where hard-working seniors submit their original research projects in hopes of winning one of the prestigious Intel awards.

According to Intel, the Science Talent Search, often called the "junior Nobel Prize" is "America's oldest and most highly regarded pre-college science competition." Over 1,400 high school seniors from around the United States compete for fame and fortune each year- the top prize is a $100,000 scholarship.

But before students can be considered for a national prize, they first compete in local contests, such as the one to be held at Pace University on March 15, 2003. Student researchers from Westchester and Putnam Counties will present their projects at the Progenics Westchester Science and Engineering Fair. Science professionals from the area will rate the projects and help select those that will go on to the next phase of the national competition.

The organizers of the Westchester Fair are looking for judges with an assortment of science backgrounds who are willing to spend a morning in March reviewing the student work. Interested? Qualified? Then check out the organization's flier reproduced below:

3rd Annual Progenics Westchester Science and Engineering Fair
(an INTEL-ISEF affiliated fair)
Sponsored by Progenics Pharmaceuticals – Tarrytown
Held at and funded at the regional level by
Pace University
March 15th, 2003

JUDGES WANTED: We are in need of Science, Psychology and Engineering professionals to lend their expertise and advice in selecting from amongst the County’s top science research students to represent Westchester and Putnam counties at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

CATEGORIES: Behavioral and Social Sciences, Biochemistry, Botany, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth and Space Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Science, Gerontology, Mathematics, Medicine and Health, Microbiology, Physics and Zoology.

TIME REQUIREMENTS: The judging session will run from 8:45am – 1:45pm with a 30-minute break at 11:15. The judge briefing and breakfast will begin at 8:00a.m. and lunch will be served at 1:45p.m., both of which are generously provided by Pace University. You are also invited to join us for the awards ceremony at 3:30p.m.

JUDGING CRITERIA: A grading rubric will be provided which will encompass: Enthusiasm towards the work, an organized scientific approach, the verbal explanation of the background information which lead to their experiment, a clear explanation of their results, the significance of the future impact of their research and physical characteristics of the poster.

PARTICIPANTS: Westchester and Putnam County high school “student researchers” displaying their fascinating, advanced research projects via poster presentation and verbal explanation.

WINNERS: The top 8 individual winners and up to 4 teams at WESEF will represent Westchester County at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), this coming May, where they will compete on a global level against over 1,200 students from 42 countries. Specialty awards will also be given by organizations such as the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, American Meteorological Society, Eastman Kodak Company and many more.

CONTACT: If you are interested in judging this exciting event, please contact Jodi Pear via e-mail, pear@mamkschools.org or telephone at (914) 698-9000. Please include your name, work address and affiliation, area(s) of expertise, e-mail address and daytime and evening phone #’s.

Your interest and participation are greatly appreciated.

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