Bellevue College to host Central Sound Regional Science and Engineering Fair

Fair encourages k-12 students to explore careers in STEM fields

More than 200 students from King and Snohomish counties will compete Saturday, March 12 in the seventh annual Bellevue College Central Sound Regional Science and Engineering Fair (CSRSEF) in the Bellevue College gymnasium. 

Fair organizers are encouraging public participation in this free event between 1 – 3:30 p.m. and will present a “People’s Choice Award” to the project receiving the greatest number of public votes. Those in attendance

will see science and engineering investigations in topics ranging from computer science, chemistry and physics to entomology and more.

Participants spend the months leading up to the fair conducting independent research, either individually or in teams, in one of 12 science, math and engineering categories. Projects will be evaluated for creativity, depth of content, thoroughness, clarity, and other criteria set by local science and engineering professionals.

The grand prize and category winners, will be announced at the awards ceremony at 3:30 p.m., with the top two projects receiving an all-expense paid, week-long trip to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), held this May in Phoenix. 

Gokul Gowri from Inglemoor High School was awarded the 2015 Grand Champion prize for his project, “Designing a Novel Influenza Vaccine using in silico Analysis.”  Ethan Perrin, Sonia Murthy and Sophia Tevosyan from Tesla STEM High School were awarded 2015 First Runner-Up for their project, “Implementation of a Carbon Dioxide Refrigeration System as a Cogeneration Appliance and Alternative to Halocarbon-based Refrigeration systems.” The trio also earned third place at ISEF, receiving prize monies of $1000 from a special award given out by NASA, and a third place prize in their category of Environmental Engineering.

The Science and Math Institute (SAMI) at Bellevue College, which runs the fair as its flagship program, is now in its eighth year. The program’s main mission is to encourage local K-12 students in their studies of science, technology, engineering, and math, and to explore career opportunities in technical fields.

For more information about the fair, visit http://www.bellevuecollege.edu/sciencefair/ or contact Dr. Jennifer Pang at SAMI@bellevuecollege.edu or (425) 564-3055. The Bellevue College main campus is located at 3000 Landerholm Circle SE and parking is available.