TIDEWATER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FAIR HELD AT ODU
Students in grades 6-12 from throughout southeastern Virginia competed on March 10 in the Tidewater Science and Engineering Fair at Old Dominion. This 61st annual fair was organized by the Tidewater Science Congress, and ODU was a sponsor as well as the host.
Members of the ODU faculty and staff acted as judges, coordinators and college admissions advisers during the all-day event. Michael Overstreet, professor emeritus of computer science and former associate dean of the ODU College of Sciences, and Chris Osgood, associate professor of biological sciences and associate dean of the College of Sciences, are members of the governing board of the Tidewater Science Congress.
All portions of the fair were in ODU's Webb Center. The opening ceremony for exhibitors, parents and teachers featured remarks by Melani Loney, president of the Tidewater Science Congress, and Carol Simpson, ODU's provost and vice president for academic affairs.
The public were allowed to view the nearly 300 projects and displays entered in the competition and to attend the awards ceremony.
An ODU panel consisting of Nechell Bonds, director of undergraduate admissions, Terri Mathews, associate dean of the College of Sciences, and Linda Vahala, associate dean of the Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology, were on-hand to discuss college admissions at a presentation from 8:45-9:30 a.m.
During the morning session, there were special programs and campus tours for the teachers and families of students whose projects were competing in the fair.
Participation in the fair included students from Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Isle of Wight, Gloucester, Newport News, Hampton, York County, Poquoson, Williamsburg, James City County, Southampton County, Franklin and Accomack County.
First-place winners in the high school division of the regional fair qualified for the Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair April 6-7, also on the ODU campus. Competitors at the state fair will be vying for the chance to represent the state in the Intel ISEF.
The director of the Tidewater Science and Engineering Fair is Dell Young. The fair's website is at < ahref ="www.cs.odu/~scifair/RegionalFair/index.html">www.cs.odu/~scifair/RegionalFair/index.html.