January 15, 2004 — Entries are now being accepted for the Salt Lake Valley Regional Science and Engineering Fair, which will be held Friday March 26 and Saturday March 27 at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the University of Utah campus.

The competition is open to middle, junior high and high school students in the Davis, Granite, Jordan, Murray, Park City, Salt Lake City, South Summit, Tooele and Wasatch school districts. The deadline for entries is March 12.

This is the third year the fair will be sponsored by the Utah Engineering Experiment Station at the University of Utah.

Special awards provided by the Intel Corp. and 18 other corporations, foundations, professional societies, and government agencies will be presented to the students whose research projects have been judged as the prizewinners in each of 14 research categories. The categories are behavioral and social science, biochemistry, botany, chemistry, computer science, Earth and space science, engineering, environmental science, gerontology, mathematics, medicine and health, microbiology, physics and zoology.

There will be two competitive research project divisions. The junior division includes seventh, eighth and ninth grade students, while the senior division includes tenth, eleventh and twelfth graders.

Winners of the fair’s senior division will win an all-expense-paid trip to enter their projects and participate in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair 2004, which will be held in Portland, Ore., May 10 to 16, 2004.

The goals of the regional science fair are to promote student interest and involvement in science and engineering; provide opportunities for students in middle schools and high schools to develop their scientific research and communication skills; publicly recognize the achievements of students who enter research projects in the fair; and recognize science teachers for their outstanding dedication and commitment to their students.

Students interested in participating in this year’s regional fair may obtain the rules and register online – or obtain forms to register by mail – by going to http://www.utah.edu/uees/studentprograms.html and then clicking on “SLV Regional Science & Engineering Fair.”

There is a $10 registration fee for each participating student. Schools usually pay the fees for their students. Entry fees should be mailed to the Salt Lake Valley Regional Science and Engineering Fair, c/o Utah Engineering Experiment Station, University of Utah, 1495 East 100 South, Room 138, Salt Lake City, UT 84112. Or the fees may be submitted when the students check in at the fair’s registration desk from 10 a.m. to noon on March 26.

Students, parents or teachers with questions may call Ray Beckett Jr., the fair’s director, at (801) 581-3795.

(Note: Other universities sponsor science fairs covering other areas of Utah.)