Wednesday night over 600 students and their families attended the Thomas Alva Edison Kiwanis Science and Engineering Fair Award Ceremony held at the Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) Alico Arena. The total prizes, awards and scholarships granted at the event totaled over $1 million dollars. Winners were from middle school and high school students in public and private schools located in Charlotte and Lee Counties.
Winners in 17 distinct science Categories ranging from Animal Sciences, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Chemistry, Computer Science, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Math, Medicine and Health Services, Physics and Astronomy to Plant Sciences were announced and awards granted to dozens of winners and top finishers in these Categories. Each Category competes in both the Senior (High School) and Junior (Middle School) Divisions.
In addition to the Category Awards, Special Awards, prizes and scholarships were granted by individuals, businesses or agencies. Each Special Award has specific criteria established by the donor. Daniel Lopez, for example, won Second Place in the Engineering Material and Bio-engineering Category, but also passes to the Imaginarium for his family, an invitation to participate in the Edison Festival of Light Day of Discovery Sci-Live event of February 23 and a Sony VIAO personal computer presented by the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.
The awarding of scores of Grand Prizes climaxed the award ceremony. Awards included scholarships, trophies, prizes. level. 28 Middle School students were selected to participate in the two-week Summer Research Opportunity program at FGCU where they will work directly with Scientist on real hands-on research. Edison State College awarded 6 total Associate Degree Scholarships to Middle School students of high-merit in the Science and in the Inventors Fair.
FGCU awarded 29 full, four-year scholarships to Science Fair winners and these students will go on to compete at the Florida State Science and Engineering Fair March 26 to 28 in Lakeland, Florida and 5 of these students will then compete in the INTEL Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arz. May 12 to17 with additional prizes, awards and scholarships in the offing.
Over 12,000 students in Lee and Charlotte Counties competed in school and local Science Fairs, with 434 going on to the regional competition of February 2. The culmination of this process resulted in two Best of Fair recipients – Eleanor Keys of LA Anglier Middle School for her project titled “The relative impact of ocean lolution as a watering medium for tomato plants and its influence over the mineral content of the fruit. The Senior Division Best of Fair winner was Jack Norleans of Fort Myers High School for his project “Sodium is essential for Na+/K+ATPase blockade and electrical stimulation induced cancer cell lysis.”
The Award Ceremony was a celebration of Science, with student-winners beaming and family members cheering throughout the evening at the arena. Now on to State and International competition where our fine young scientist will undoubtedly represent Southwest Florida with honor and the good possibility of winning more prizes, awards and scholarships at these advance levels.
