65th Annual ND State Science and Engineering Fair – March 26-27

The next generation of North Dakota scientists and engineers arrived on UND’s campus to compete in the 65th Annual North Dakota State Science and Engineering Fair (NDSSEF). Students arrived at UND on Thursday, March 26. Thursday’s events began with hands-on learning activities in Aerospace, Biology, Chemistry, Geography, Engineering, Math, Medicine, Nursing, Physics, and Teaching and Learning. The excited students ended the busy day by attending a banquet held in their honor, along with their parents, regional instructors, state and regional staff and UND administration. The keynote speaker for the banquet was Dr. Mark A Askelson, professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences whose recent research has focused on surface transportation weather, the utilization of radars for both aircraft deconfliction—including UAS—and meteorological applications, objective analysis, mesoscale modeling, data assimilation, and storm dynamics. Friday the nearly 200 Students filled the UND Wellness center. These middle and high school students advanced from their earlier regional competitions, in either the junior or senior division, earning the honor to compete. Each project was presented to no less than 3 judges. Judges for the fair were made up of UND faculty, doctoral research students and community leaders representing various STEM areas. National, regional and state organizations recognized the efforts of the students with awards and scholarships presented at the end of the day. First and second place winners in the senior division advance to compete in the International Science and Engineering Fair in May in Pittsburgh, PA: http://www.societyforscience.org/isef/ Those students are: 1st Place, Senior Division, Mya Steinwehr, Hankinson School District, “A Comparative Study on Natural Pesticides for Potatoes” 2nd Place, Senior Division, Lakin Mauch, Hankinson School District, “An assessment of Drainage System in Richland County Corn Fields” 3rd Place, Senior Division, Sean Loken, Wishek School District, “Solar Engineering Applications III” (ISEF alternate) A full list of final results will be posted on the website: Photo credit goes to Jackie Lorentz, UND photographer. Electrical Engineering instructor Mojdeh Mardani visits with student Cody Knudson from Hankinson Public School about the his science fair project, “Effects of Digital Education vs Traditional Education” at the 65 th ND State Science & Engineering Fair held at the UND Wellness Center