Discovery (formerly South Sound)
Regional Science and Engineering Fair
Announcing New Fair Schedule
Discovery Fair Schedule 2023 (No In Person)
| Registration Cut Off Forms Due | Project Due | Distribute to Judges | Virtual Interviews | Judging Finished | State Fair Interviews | |
| K-5 | March 22 | March 22 | March 25 | No Interviews | April 1 | April 1 |
| 6-8 | March 15 | March 15 | March 18 | March 25 | April 1 | April 1 |
| 9-12 | March 8 | March 8 | March 11 | March 18 | March 25 | March 31 |
New Registration System is Now Available for Use
Based on suggestions from teachers and parents, we have a new and simplified registration system. The major changes are:
- A significant reduction of information fields
- Optional paper mail in registration
- Adding a “Save and Resume Later” button. This allows you to save a partial registration and finish at a later time. After selecting this button, you will have enter your email address and have the link sent to you in order to recover your partial registration.
Mail in forms. Teachers and others may print or download and print these for students who may need to register via this route:
Discovery Fair will be permanently Virtual. See details below.
Registration for Regeneron Science Talent Search is open. Details below.
Click here to register for the Discovery Regional Science and Engineering Fair
Discovery Spotlight
American Junior Academy of Science (AJAS) 2022-2023: Congratulations Evan Lou, Olympia High School, and Spencer Peloquin, Curtis High School, who were nominated by Discovery and accepted to AJAS membership. The academy honors high school fair participants who are doing outstanding research. They join Kevin Shen, Olympia High School and Nidhi Krishna Kumar, Olympia High School who were accepted last year and Smriti Somasundaram, Olympia High School who was accepted two years ago.
Regeneron Science Talent Search
For those interested:
Registration is now open and closes in November. At this time, Discovery Fair does not work with students who wish to enter the Science Talent Search. However, note that the rewards are significant. If you have questions, please contact us. All 40 finalists receive cash awards ranging from $25,000 to $250,000.
Requirements:
https://www.societyforscience.org/regeneron-sts/application-requirements/
Top 10 including project descriptions:
https://www.societyforscience.org/regeneron-sts/2022-sts-winners/
All finalists including project descriptions.
Discovery congratulates:
Christine Ye, student at Eastlake High School in the Lake Washington School District for first place in the 2022 Regeneron Science Talent Search. Christine’s award is $250,000.
Neil Chowdhury of Bellevue WA for his 5th place finish worth $90,000.
Discovery Fair will be Permanently Virtual. We know that some value the excitement of an in person fair. There are compelling reasons to move to a virtual format. Here are a few:
- Equity. Considering the 8 counties we now cover, it is likely that some potential participants would not be able to travel to an in person event.
- Time demands. Many potential participants face competing time demands including family events, school and community programs. We offer alternate days for interviews for 8-12 students when conflicts arise.
- Judges. We are able to recruit more knowledgeable judges when they do not have to attend an in person event.
- Quality of Judging. Our judges do a more thorough job of evaluating projects when they can review the slides in the week prior to interviews.
- Cost. Virtual fairs save participants and judges the expense of travel, meals etc., and are far more convenient. In addition few companies are willing to donate to science fairs now. They prioritize their philanthropy for the many needs in our society.
Slides. We will continue to expect projects in the form of slides, not trifold boards.
Interviews: We will continue to interview 6-12 students remotely. K-5 will be evaluated based on submitted slides.
International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)
The delegation from the state of Washington earned more awards per participant than any state in the US. We had an average of 1.3 awards per participant.
Congratulations to Discovery ISEF Nominees:
Aiden Bai was awarded 3rd place in the category Systems Software for $1000
Kevin Shen was awarded 4th place in the category Engineering Technology for $500.
In addition, Kevin won first place in the Air Force Research Laboratory Specialty Awards for the category Engineering Technology $750
Kevin also won the first place Specialty Award offered by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics for $2000.
Broadcom Results from 2022.
Discovery participant Zain Shariff was selected to the Broadcom Masters 300 finalists out of over 1800 students nationwide. https://sspcdn.blob.core.windows.net/files/Documents/SEP/BCM/2022/Program-Books/Top-300-MASTERS.pdf
Discovery is Growing
Awards:
We are increasing numbers and types of awards.
- 2021 – Over 50 specialty awards.
- 2022 – Well over 60, with additional cash awards.
- Increased place awards (1st, 2nd, 3rd and Honorable Mention)
- International fair nominations for 9-12
- Broadcom Masters nominations for 6-8
- American Junior Academy of Sciences Nominations for High School
We are pleased by the progress and are sharing the current list here. However, we are still looking to build this list. If you can donate a specialty award, please do so. All awards will include a certificate which we or the sponsor provide. Awards can carry appropriate names and award criteria. They may be anonymous or attributed to the person, family or organization. If you would like to discuss possibilities, contact us at scifairdir@plu.edu. Our mailing address is on the Contacts page. Please look at the list: 2022 Awards
Geography:
- Historically we included Pierce, Lewis, Mason and Thurston Counties
- We welcome Grays Harbor, Kitsap, Jefferson and Clallam Counties.
- We welcome homeschool, public school, private school, charter school and on-line school participants.
Partnership
The South Sound STEM Fair Alliance, in partnership with Pacific Lutheran University, continues to sponsor the fair.
About Us
- Our Mission is to encourage students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
- We encourage participants to work on their projects with adults, including family members, teachers and mentors. We ask that students identify the contributions made by adults. Historically some STEM fairs downgraded projects for suspected adult involvement. Discovery does not.
- We are a Washington State non-profit corporation with IRS tax exempt status.
- We are an all-volunteer organization.
- We need volunteers to assist with tasks. We conduct our fair management meetings by Zoom.
- South Sound STEM Fair Alliance, in compliance with US Law does not discriminate in the administration of the Discovery Regional Science and Engineering Fair (DRSEF) or any other activities on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation or preference, national or ethnic origin, color, disability, marital status, age, or religious belief.
More Changes
Name
- We were South Sound Regional Science and Engineering Fair for about 22 years.
- Recognizing our wider geography, we are now officially Discovery Regional Science and Engineering Fair
- We will gradually retire the name South Sound as communities become familiar with our new name.
Slides, Not Trifolds
- We require a maximum of 12 8.5 x 11 slides. (With some possible extras for 9-12)
- Easier to submit projects
- No trifold boards
- Slides submitted in PDF format
- Details are on Registration Pages of this website.
Submitting Projects
We ask participants to upload their forms and projects to our Cloud drive using a link we will provide after registration.
Registration fee
- We remain an all-volunteer non-profit organization
- Fund raising has been challenging during the pandemic
- Most regional fairs around the nation have a fee
- Our largest expense is affiliation with the International Fair (ISEF)
- We receive significant benefits in specialty awards from ISEF, not otherwise available
- Several are for grades 9-12
- A few are for 6-8
- None are for K-5
- Our fee structure reflects this allocation.
- Fees are per participant, not per project.
- Grades K-5 will remain free to enter.
- The fee for Grades 6-8 will be $10.
- The fee for Grades 9-12 will be $30.
- We will email all registrants with payment options.
- Scholarship option:
- Fee will not be a deterrent to fair participation
- Please contact the fair director if you need financial assistance with the registration fee: scifairdir@plu.edu