Utah Science Center and University of Utah Media Release

March 21, 2007-The Utah Science Center and the University of Utah will host the 2007 Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair March 28-29 on the 4th and 5th floor of The Tower at Rice-Eccles Stadium on the university campus.

The 2007 event is expected to be the largest Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair ever, with 237 entries, compared with 183 entries last year. Students in grades five through 12 from Salt Lake, Granite, Murray and Tooele school districts will participate. Select projects from grades K-4 will also be featured. In addition, several exhibits from the Leonardo on Wheels-Science, the science center’s educational outreach program, will be on display.

The public is invited to attend the following events on Thursday, March 29:

• 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.: Public Exhibit Period. All student exhibits on display.


• 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Awards Ceremony. Keynote Address: “Looking Into the Nano World.” Jordan Gerton, assistant professor of physics at the University of Utah, will be the keynote speaker. Gerton is a biophysicist and at the forefront of research in nanoscience.

The Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair provides opportunities for students to showcase their achievements and compete for valuable prizes. Top performers from the event will be invited to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, in Albuquerque, N.M. Each May, more than 1,500 students from some 40 countries gather to compete in the world”s largest pre-college science fair. Prizes include $3 million in scholarships, tuition grants, internships, scientific field trips and the grand prize: a $50,000 college scholarship.

Research categories for the fair include: animal sciences, behavioral and social sciences. biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, chemistry, computer science, Earth science, energy and transportation, electrical and mechanical engineering, materials engineering and bioengineering, environmental analysis, environmental management, mathematical sciences, medicine and health sciences, microbiology, physics and astronomy, and plant sciences.

The Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair is made possible by the Utah Science Center, the University of Utah, The Leonardo, Intel Foundation and almost a dozen additional sponsors. For more information, visit www.utahsciencecenter.org/sciencefair

About the Utah Science Center

The Utah Science Center (www.utahsciencecenter.org) emphasizes creative and active exploration of the worlds of science and technology. The science center endeavors to create a culture and environment for exploring the factors and phenomena that affect our lives and shape our future. The Utah Science Center, along with YouthCity Artways (www.youthcityartways.org) and the Center for Documentary Arts (www.cdautah.org), is a founding partner in The Leonardo (www.theleonardo.org), an art, culture and science center scheduled to open in downtown Salt Lake City in 2009.

About the University of Utah

The University of Utah (www.utah.edu) is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. Founded in 1850, it is the first and largest public higher education institution in Utah, with more than 28,000 students from all 50 states and 102 countries, and a campus comprising almost 1,500 acres in the western foothills of the Wasatch Range in Salt Lake City. A major academic and research institution with an extensive health sciences center, the university offers majors in 72 subjects at the undergraduate level and more than 90 major fields of study at the graduate level, including law and medical schools.