Chapter Youth Outreach Report: 2023 Science Fairs

This February and March, Chesapeake Chapter volunteers again participated as independent sponsor judges at the Anne Arundel County Public Schools Science and Engineering Expo. There were five volunteers this year: Clinton Hilliard, Jim Campbell, Jim DeCamp, Josephine Podolsky, and Daniel Yue.

This was the first year since 2020 that judging could be conducted in-person, as the coronavirus has subsided. There was a prejudging period in February in which the judges could view reports, videos, and other information provided by the students. The judges viewed projects from 6th through 12th grade and selected the projects with a focus on the higher grades and criteria that were most relevant to systems engineering disciplines.

In March, the judges had the exciting opportunity to personally interview the students selected from the prejudging during the official judging session. It was a great time to guide students and to learn from them as well. In the end, the chapter selected three projects that our judges deemed the most excellent and in line with requisites of good Systems Engineering practices.

The Anne Arundel County Public Schools Science and Engineering Expo Awards went to:

Zoey Vea, Solar Powered Bottle Light: A solar panel powers a rechargeable battery for a LED light that distributes the light through a reusable plastic soft drink bottle.
Megan Yeager, Reducing Methane Using Renewables: The project tested the ability to utilize the adsorption properties in activated carbon to remove methane from the air.
Rachel Hylan, Stay Calm and Steady the Jitters: The student created a miniature structure to simulate the circumstances under which a building can return to a resting position after an occurrence of vibrations caused by wind or earthquakes

Presented to the awardees was a framed INCOSE certificate of recognition, an official INCOSE Chesapeake Chapter coin, and a letter of congratulations signed by our esteemed chapter president. We additionally provided monetary awards of $150 to each student. The Chesapeake Chapter also provided another $500 in direct sponsorship support to the event program office.

The Youth Stem Outreach (YSO) Committee is looking for future opportunities in informing and encouraging young people about systems engineering and how they can get involved to pursue a career in this field.

For anyone interested in earning PDUs and joining us on the committee, please contact us at STEM@INCOSE-CC.org.

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