Mercer Science and Engineering Club

Affiliated Fairs

Fair ID: 400301
Area: Mercer County

Area: Mercer County

Fairs for students
attending school
outside of
Mercer County

Local Organizations

Promoting Science in Mercer County, NJ

NJ State Museum Science Festival May 17-18

Check out the new NJ State Museum on May 17th and 18th in Trenton, NJ. They will be holding annual Super Science Weekend in their newly renovated building. Admission is free and you may see a few science fair projects there. Let us know what you think about the festival. Call (609) 292-6310 for more information.

2008 MSEF wraps up with 2 winners heading to ISEF at Atlanta, GA in May

More details and photos soon but in a nutshell we had a great fair this year. The grand prize winner in the Senior Division was John Wu from Princeton High with his project Ear Recognition - A New Biometrics Device. He will be competing in Atlanta at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair along with our 1st runner up, Christina Razzano from Villa Victoria Academy, with her project Making Methane. We would also like to congratulate the 2nd runner-up, Kevin Mantel from Hamilton High East, for his project Does Temperature Affect the Photoelectric Effect?

We would like to congratulate all the participants in this year's fair on a job well done. The 2008 results are available online. We would like to thank all the teachers, judges, parents and mentors for their hard work. I would also like to thank all the Mercer Science and Engineering Club members and our sponsors including Rider University for making this fair possible. We look forward to seeing you next year.

Senior Division Winners

Check out this site for more details on our open Introduction Session this coming fall on October 18th at Villa Victoria Academy. The tentative time will be 8am -12pm. It is open to all teachers, mentors, parents and Senior Division students. It will include a variety of sessions targeted at each group in additional to a general opening session. We hope you can attend. Please tell your friends and colleagues about it.

Society for Science & the Public (SSP) Runs ISEF

Society for Science & the Public (SSP) is the new name for Science Service, the organization that runs the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. SSP is the same group. They have a new website although the old one is still accessible.

Another change is the national fair for 5th through 8th graders. This used to be Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge (DCYSC). This will now be the SSP Middle School Program. It may get a snappier name in the future but the effects are the same. 5th through 8th grader winners at our fair will be able to participate in this fair.

So, just a few names changes. Nothing else is new right now. All ISEF forms remain the same.

MSEF 2008 Teacher/Coordinator Meeting

The annual fall meeting for teachers, administrators and science fair coordinators covering the 2008 Mercer Science and Engineering Fair was held at Villa Victoria Academy, 376 West Upper Ferry Road Ewing NJ 08628 at 7pm Tuesday Oct 16th. We had some new participants and went over new rule changes. The hands-on computer lab covering the online registration system was a great success. Please contact us if you were not able to attend.

Congratulations To Rider's Earle Rommel

Earle Rommel just retired as Director of Public Relations at Rider University. Rider University is the co-sponsor of the Mercer Science and Engineering Fair and Earle has been at the forefront of that support since the fair moved to Rider.

Earle was with Rider University for 35 years and is also an alumnus. He was instrumental in raising awareness of Rider and its academic offerings to students and the community. He did the same for the Fair as well making sure that all the results were published in local papers immediately after each fair.

You probably caught a glimpse of Earle at the fair or at the award ceremonies but he always stayed in the background leaving the limelight to the students. As you might guess, he will be spending a little more time with his wife and his favorite hobby, fishing.

The Mercer Science and Engineering Club wants to thank Earle for his long and substantial support of the Fair and the students of Mercer County. There are hundreds of inspired students and adults that got their start in the world of science and engineering because of Earle's efforts. Thanks, Earle, from all of us.

Mentor Power Students Looking Towards 2008 Fair

MentorPower provides one-on-one mentoring to high school students that are under-represented in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers in Trenton, Lawrenceville and Ewing. This year's students will be participating in the 2008 Mercer Science and Engineering Fair representing their schools. Check out MentorPower's website for more details.

2007 MSEF Award Winners

We would like to congratulate the over 500 students that participated in this year's 2007 Mercer Science and Engineering Fair. The Grand Prize award winner in the Senior Division is Nicole Hom from Hamilton High East for her project entitled The Effects of pH and Temperature on the Development of Tadpoles. The 1st Runner Up was Rebecca Ehrhardt for her project entitled Emergency Solar Water Pasteurization. The complete list of awards and photos have been posted.

The fair was also covered by WZBN TV- 25. The video was aired the Monday of judging and you will be able to view it online from the video vault.

MIRTH Joins 2007 MSEF As Sponsor And Award Presenter

We would like to welcome MIRTHE, the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center, as a new sponsor to the Mercer Science and Engineering Fair. MSEF sponsors like MIRTHE are the reason why the science fair is free to all students in Mercer County.

MIRTHE will also be awarding prizes to students whose research is in the areas of optics, environment and health for both junior and senior levels. Please have your students contact us if they wish their project to be considered for a MIRTHE award. Students to be directed to MIRTHE's main web site to find out more about the center.

MIRTHE is headquartered at Princeton University, with partners City College New York, Johns Hopkins University, Rice Iniversity, Texas A&M University, and the University of Maryland Baltimore County. The center encompasses a world-class team of engineers, chemists, physicists, environmental and bio-engineers, and medical doctors. MIRTHE's goal is to develop mid-infrared ( wavelength range of 3 - 30 micrometers) optical trace gas sensing systems based on new technologies such as quantum cascade lasers or quartz enhanced photo-acoustic spectroscopy, with the ability to detect minute amounts of chemicals found in the environment or atmosphere, emitted from spills, combustion, or natural sources, or exhaled in human breath.

MIRTHE is already involved in many education outreach activities including working with science and engineering science fairs which are described at www.mirthecenter.org/educators.cfm

More News

Science Fair Video

Check out this video about the 2006 Intel Science and Engineering Fair courtesy of Swetha ChandraSekar. Swetha and her family accompanied her brother, Rohith, to ISEF in Indianapolis and this is her video story. Hear what some of the 1,500 participants at the say about the competition and their projects.

Teacher Training Session Presentations Online

The teacher training session held on Sept. 21st was a success. The presentations are now online. They are excellent resources to teachers and students especially those in the Junior and Senior Division. Teachers will be able to earn professional development hours for subsequent courses. We want to thank those teachers who attended so we could provide this service in the future.