Eleven students, five from Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, who competed in the Regional Science Fair held in Charlotte on April 5th were selected to compete in the state competition at Meredith College in Raleigh. In addition, two of those students also went on to participate in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Cleveland.

The fair was the first for the area in over five years and it’s the first time North Carolina will send a representative to the ISEF, the world's largest pre-college science competition. At the ISEF, approximately 1,200 students from all 50 states and 40 foreign countries, will compete for over $3 million in scholarships, tuition grants, scientific equipment and scientific trips.

Teresa Williams, outreach specialist for NASA’s NC Space Grant consortium at UNC Charlotte, led the regional competition. In addition to strong commitment from UNC Charlotte, establishing the regional science fair was also supported by the Charlotte Area Science Network (CASN), including several Sigma Xi members. With CASN member Discovery Place as its hub of public appreciation of science, CASN is hosting public forums on science topics and is actively involved with promoting science initiatives, such as science fairs, in schools in the Charlotte area.

Members of the network including Sigma Xi Chapter President Hilary Davidson and Steve Huggins secured corporate sponsors (the Duke Energy Foundation and Goodrich Corporation) for the event, providing funding for the regional winners to compete at the state and international levels. Sigma Xi members instrumental in helping recruit and serve as judges were Chapter Treasurer Linda Simpson, Assistant Chair of UNC Charlotte’s Biology Department and Sigma Xi Chapter member, Lee Kindberg, CMS Board of Education representative. Other CASN members instrumental in helping with the science fair include: Mary Sherburne, science advocate; David Royster, Director of UNC Charlotte’s Center for Math, Science & Technology Education; and Ted Sherburne, President Emeritus of Science Service, which administers the ISEF.