Joint UND, NDSU program aids state’s science and engineering fair participants
North Dakota’s middle and high school engineering, math, science and technical programs are receiving a financial boost from a joint UND and North Dakota State University program. The North Dakota IDeA (Institutional Development Award) Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) is administered by the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences in collaboration with North Dakota State University.
To enhance student participation, the ND INBRE is paying all fees—costs usually borne by middle schools and high schools—for students to partake in North Dakota’s regional and state science and engineering fairs. The immediate goal is to stimulate the development of science, technology, engineering and math education by supporting the ability of all 7th- through 12th-grade students who wish to participate and compete in their regional fairs and the ND State Science and Engineering Fair. This will ultimately increase the number of ND students entering the technical, educational and health professional workforce pipeline in the state.
The Northeast Regional Fair will be held March 2, at UND, and the State Science and Engineering Fair will be held April 7-8, also at UND. Winners from the regional fairs throughout the state move on to the state fair, and top students from the state fair advance to the International Science and Engineering Fair www.societyforscience.org/isef/.
Researchers in the statewide INBRE network conduct projects at Cankdeska Cikana Community College, Dickinson State University, Mayville State University, Minot State University, Turtle Mountain Community College and Valley City State University. Donald Sens, a professor of Pathology at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences runs the program at UND, and Donald Schwert, a distinguished professor of geology and director of the Center for Science and Mathematics at North Dakota State University, serves as the program coordinator there.
Contact information for the regional science fairs can be found at http://ndinbre.org/community/sciencefair/.
— Denis MacLeod, assistant director, Office of Alumni and Community Relations, UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences, 777-2733, denis.macleod@med.und.edu.
