More than 140 students participated in the 11th Annual Southern Connecticut Invitational Science and Engineering Fair hosted by the Convent of the Sacred Heart School this past weekend.
The expo featured the projects of high school students from Greenwich, Darien, Westport and Woodbridge. Their projects were assessed by a panel of 125 judges – scientists and educators from the area.
The fair is funded and organized by the Southern Connecticut Science & Engineering Foundation. Inc, whose many programs seek to promote scientific inquiry and exploration among area students.
There were more than 140 projects – some completed research while others were proposals for future research. The projects involved the disciplines of physical, environmental, behavioral and health sciences. Each of the disciplines were represented by a diverse range of topics – from investigating alternative biofuels to analyzing how to effectively communicate information to teenagers, to studying the recollection capacities of goldfish.
Find out what's happening in Westportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Convent of the Sacred Heart junior Krystyna Miles has been studying the effects of construction and industry on the Saugatuck River Watershed for the last three years. “This drive to protect local water ways really increased this past summer when I was testing Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk,” she said. “The bacteria levels were really high and we traced it back to a faulty construction process,” explained Miles of some of the inspiration behind her research.
Darien High School student Dana Howe travelled to Costa Rica last summer to continue to her three-year study on the fertility levels of leatherback sea turtles. “I presented last year with the research proposal,” said Howe. “It is exciting for me to now present something that is concrete and organized.”
Find out what's happening in Westportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
U.S. Rep. Jim Himes of Cos Cob addressed the students during the awards ceremony. “There is very little we do that is quite as important as doing everything we can to foster the interest in and commitment to science and engineering in the United States," Himes said.
“The future of our economy depends on us doing much better than we do today on science and engineering," Himes also said. "A generation ago this country led the world on math scores, on science scores, on patents – we are now deep in the pack of industrialized countries. We are junior varsity, and that must change.”
This year’s keynote speaker is world-renowned astronomer Dr. Heidi Hammel, who was appointed recently as executive vice president of The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. Most recently, she has been involved with research on the planets Uranus and Neptune using the Hubble and Keck-10m telescopes as senior research scientist and co-director of research at the Space Science Institute.
“She’s a leader in her field,” said Himes, “One of the things we can do in science and engineering to make sure that we all that we can be is to encourage girls and women into the field – women and girls are underrepresented.”
Hammel shared her experiences as an astronomer from her first forays as an MIT undergrad to her current missions in her animated and engaging presentation titled “Mission, Myths and Free Advice.”
She encouraged her student audience not to shy away from pursuit of the sciences for fear of complexity, sharing her own entertaining stories of fumbling through Quantum Physics as an undergraduate. “You don’t have to be brilliant,” she said “but you do have to work hard.”
“Be brave, and make your own luck,” said Hammel, a native of Ridgefield. “And remember, a C is a passing grade!”
