Science Talent Search 2014

Inspiring young minds to explore engineering, science and technology.

Welcome to the Science Talent Search 2014! This is our community initiative to encourage young minds to explore engineering, science and technology.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

1. Register for the Science Talent Search 2014 here. The event is divided into different categories, viz. elementary school, middle school and high school.

2. Make a trifold 36″x 48″ poster in one of the topics, viz. Energy, Global Warming, Health Sciences, Futuristics, Careers in engineering, science, technology, or any other science topic that fascinates you. You can find detailed explanation of the topics here. The posters will be judged on content (research), creativity and presentation.

3. Drop-off the poster at one of the drop-off locations here.

Please note that this event is open to all communities, including non-MEA members. The details about cash prizes can be found here.

TOPICS

You can create the poster in one of the topics below.

Energy: To maintain and sustain our civilization we need energy. It is required for farming, lighting, transportation, manufacturing, communication, entertainment etc. which are essential for modern way of life. With ever growing population the world is experiencing increasing demand for energy. Conventional sources of energy such as fossil fuels are dwindling and cause harmful consequences to the weather and ecosystems. Engineering and scientific community around the globe are working hard to find alternate and green solutions. Describe any alternate and green sources of energy that you find interesting and you believe has potential. Also explain how energy conservation will help and how ordinary people can help.

Global Warming: A large community of scientists claims that the average global temperature has been increasing since the industrial revolution and has been increasing at an accelerated pace during the last century. This phenomenon is referred to as global warming. Do you believe in global warming? If so, what are the evidences, causes and remedies? How can ordinary people help?

Health Sciences: Discuss health sciences in general, focus on one disease or cure that has caught your interest and discuss why?

Futuristics: Paint a picture of all that will be invented by circa 2100, supported by evidence and arguments. Describe a typical day of a child of your age in those times. More imaginative you are the better.

Career in engineering, science or technology: If you chose a career in engineering, science or technology, tell us in what area will it be and why? Provide examples of how the field of your choice has contributed toward the wellbeing of mankind and transformed life as we know it. Support your choice by presenting proper reasoning, describing select scientists in the field who inspired you and explaining their contributions.

PRIZES

Three prizes for each category:

High School First: $250 Second: $150 Third: $100
Middle School First: $200 Second: $100 Third: $75
Elementary School First: $100 Second: $75 Third: $50

Viewers’ Choice Award: In addition to the above prizes, audience at the MEA Family Day will vote and select one winner for each category. Contestants will be given an opportunity to display and answer questions on their work during this event. Contestants must be present to be considered for this award. In case of team submissions at least one participant must be present.

High School: $100; Middle School: $75; Elementary School: $50

REGISTRATION

The registration details are as follows. You can register for the event here.

Fee: MEA member family: Free, Other individuals: $15/entry, Team: $10/person.

Guidelines: Entries may be individual or team. Only one entry per individual or team is allowed. One team can be made of 2 or 3 individuals.

DEADLINES

The deadlines for the events are as follows.

Submission Deadline : 7 September 2014 (we have extended the deadline by 2 weeks).
Award Announcement: 20th September 2014 (the awards will be given out during MEA Cultural Nite)

DROP-OFF LOCATION

The drop-off location would be announced soon. Drop-off can be done only in the month of August and September. Please email us at [email protected] if you have any questions.

Katy: Enopi: 281-769-9608

Fortbend County/ Sugar Land: Joyce John: 832-703-9155

Cypress: Lakshmi Nair: 949-294-5120, Ranjith Nair: 832-428-2225

Houston: Nalin Pillai: 713-818-1700

Spring: Enopi 281-257-3438

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q. Will you return the poster after the competition?

A. You can pick up the poster at the STS 2014 award announcement event, MEA takes no responsibility in guaranteeing the return of the poster.

SPONSORSHIP

A special shout out to our sponsors for making this event a grand success. Our sponsors are:

Silver Sponsor:

Hari Nair
Akbar Travels of India Ltd

Other Sponsors:

Dr. Saales
Johny Alex Makkora

You can find our sponsorship page over here.

CONTACT

Sent your queries to [email protected].

RESOURCES

From the given topics, choose any theme or come up with your own related sub-topics.

The following sites have tips on how to make a poster-board for science projects.

You can find last years posters over here.

Disclaimer: MEA reserves the right to change the details of the competition without any prior notice.