2005 Mercer Science and Engineering Club
Annual Report

Photos From The 52^nd Annual Mercer Science and Engineering Fair

From The President: 
The 52nd Mercer Science and Engineering Fair Is A Rousing Success

Thanks to a dedicated group of club members and generous sponsors, the Mercer Science and Engineering Club along with Rider University was able to continue the tradition in holding the 52nd Annual Mercer Science and Engineering Fair.

This is our first annual report and I am happy to say that we not only met all our goals but we are already well on our way to next year’s fair. The financial details follow but I would like to highlight some of the efforts and events that occurred this year.  

The transition from the Engineers Club of Trenton to the Mercer Science and Engineering Club went very well. Most of the active members from the Trenton Engineers Club joined our new venture and their experience allowed this year’s fair to go smoothly. The students and teachers of Mercer County were very happy that the fair was able to continue.  

We also welcomed New Jersey Congressman Rush Holt into our esteemed group of judges. Congressman Holt selected two students to receive special science and engineering awards from the New Jersey legislature.

This year we had a total of 28 schools in Mercer County participating including 16 elementary, 11 junior level and 6 senior level. There were 416 projects submitted including 262 elementary division projects, 105 junior division projects, and 49 senior division projects. This is a slight reduction compared to previous years and is due to a number of issues including the uncertainty of whether the fair would continue. We expect an increase this coming year now that the club has been established to support the fair. We have also been working to raise the level of awareness within Mercer County regarding the Mercer Science and Engineering Fair and our affiliated fairs including the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair and the Discovery Channel Young Scientists Challenge.  

We had a number of award winners that will be competing in the Discovery Channel Young Scientists Challenge. This past year we had two semi-finalist and one finalist, David Sharples. David was one of the top 40 students in the U.S. that won a trip to Washington, DC to compete.  

Our grand prize winner this year was Jonathan Chester from the Peddie School for his project entitled Effect of Soil Texture on Adsorbtion of Escherichia Coli. I had the privilege to escort Jonathan to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair held this year in Phoenix, AZ. It was a bit warm but the fair was really hot. Jonathan was able to compete with over a thousand other students. Although he did not win any major awards he had a great experience. Jonathan will be attending the University of Rochester this fall.  

One major change instituted this years was our website provided courtesy of Voicenet of Ivyland, PA. Voicenet has been very generous and we now have an online fair registration system in place that will hopefully streamline the processing of fair entries. It has also provided us with a place to distribute information about the fair.  

We still face many challenges. At the top of the list is increasing the number of participants especially in the senior division. This means bringing in more schools in Mercer County. We can also send up to two winners to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair along with observers if we can increase the level of donations. We are also looking into providing more extensive training for teachers. Our mentoring program is still in its infancy stages but we are hoping to provide more support directly to students. This means increasing the number of club members to support these efforts.  

Overall, we are in good shape and we expect this coming year to be even better. Here’s to the 53rd Annual Mercer Science and Engineering Fair.   

Sincerely,  

William Wong 
President 
Mercer Science and Engineering Club 
(215) 736-2449

Financial Report

The Mercer Science and Engineering Club Inc. fiscal year ended in June 2005. It is a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization incorporated in New Jersey. Its EIN number is #20-1346005. The 2004 990-EZ tax form is on file with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. The club is a registered New Jersey charity. The following is a summary of that filing and our balance sheet.

Income:     Cash Contributions        $8980
            Membership dues            $350
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              Total:                               $9330
 
Expenses:   Mercer Science and        $7822
            Engineering Fair (64%)
            Grand Prize Trip (21%)
            *Administration (15%)

Net Assets: Checking account          $1498
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              Total:                               $9330
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Balance:                                              $0

*Administration expense includes one time charge for incorporation and domain name registration.

Our Sponsors  

The fair would not be possible without the generosity of our major sponsors. We wish to thank them for their continued support. More details, including links to sponsor’s websites can be found on the club’s website at www.mercersec.org.