Science and Engineering Fairs: A Global Stage for Young Innovators
By Adel Sisy       March 14th, 2024

Science and engineering fairs are huge competitions of scientific ability ranging from local school to international levels where students in middle schools and high schools can showcase the impressive scientific research and findings that they have completed after months or, in some cases, years of effort. Students can perform their scientific research individually or in teams to create an innovative project to present to a panel of accomplished judges in the field of their study. This relentless competition comes with a massive added value, as students learn how to create scientific research and experimentation from a young age. Additionally, top creative and well communicated projects can qualify to receive many different awards and recognition.

Science and engineering fairs, while they may be seen as a very complicated extracurricular activity by some students, have many benefits. First, when a student works on a science project, they take on the role of a scientist conducting experiments, doing research, monitoring variables, recording their findings, and following the scientific method, or the role of an engineer trying to solve a problem, laying down outlines, building something new, designing prototypes, and following the engineering design process. Also, they learn lifelong skills that can help shape their future, like thinking critically, building creative solutions, and communicating their ideas at a public stage. Second, students can interact with other like-minded peers from different regions, states, or even nations at the higher stages in science fairs, share ideas and topics of interest, and open their horizons to learn about other parts of the world. Finally, if students have passion about their research and put lots of time, effort, and dedication into their project, they could receive several recognitions that can get them into top colleges, high-paying internships, or establish a successful business with the potential to change the world.

A couple of weeks ago, I participated in the Science and Engineering Fair of Houston (SEFH). It was a fourteen-hour event on a Saturday from 8 AM to 10 PM, and I loved it. I presented to a panel of five judges and a countless number of other students and visitors during the event. Everyone praised my project and told me that it was one of the best that they had ever seen. Just being in the atmosphere of all those other students with a passion for science was truly amazing. After the fair, I learned that SEFH is the largest regional science fair in the United States and there were 929 projects presented that day by a total of over 1,200 students. Also, SEFH is just one of about 400 regional science fairs that students can participate in to get promoted to the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) that only accepts the top 1,200 projects every year from all over the world.

To participate in a science fair, students in middle and high school can apply for their local regional fair. However, depending on the school district the student is in, there may be a school or a district level fair to pass before going to the regional fair. The application process requires a student to create a research plan and a trifold to present their research findings, fill out a safety and consent form, and pay a fee that differs depending on the fair. After meeting a certain requirement at the regional level, students are either invited to a state fair, the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge for middle school students, or the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair for high school students. The requirements to qualify for the state fairs are lower than the international fairs, but the students who proceed to state fairs have another chance to continue to the international fairs. All the time and effort that students put into reaching the international fairs does not come without reward, as the top prizes can be thousands or tens of thousands of dollars along with worldwide recognition.

Despite all the benefits of science fairs, some teachers and educational officials are not supportive of the activity for several reasons. First, a student’s extracurricular science project is time-consuming and the participation process is complicated, bringing some educators to argue that more collaborative learning experiences would be more beneficial to a wider scope of students than a smaller number of students receiving resources and support for their projects. Second, the brutally competitive nature of science fairs may have negative impacts on a student’s mental health due to the pressure put on them, causing them to chase winning rather than focus on learning. Additionally, some students may have access to better resources, equipment, and labs depending on their financial background and what type of school they are in, creating an inequitable gap between students and, in some cases, top winning projects are always from the same well-funded schools. Finally, teachers may have a limited amount of time and resources to support students in their science fair journey, help them file out their registration applications, and pay or find funding for the fees required to take the students to the location of the science fair, resulting in more teachers’ opposition.

This brings me to a very important point. All the concerns of teachers and educational officials have merit, especially after studying the devastating impact of the Covid 19’s world health crisis on education last year. However, I believe that these challenges can be addressed by the support of nonprofit organizations to bridge the inequitable gap in access to scientific resources. These organizations can provide additional programs directly to the students or to the teachers in the public-school districts and rural parts of the world that are in need of help to support their students in participating in science and engineering fairs.

Overall, science and engineering fairs can be perceived from multiple perspectives. Some may believe that science fairs are events that encourage discussion about important scientific topics among the world’s youth, while others may believe that science fairs are not inclusive enough and that a more encompassing approach to a larger group of students would be more effective. My perspective is, if the right changes and adjustments are made, science fairs can be an accessible, broader reaching, fun, educational, and competitive environment of scientific discussion and collaboration with the potential to shape the young minds that will change the future.