lbillings
Posts by this author
August 3, 2007
Just before 5:30 a.m. Saturday morning, a Delta 7925 rocket will launch from Cape Canaveral carrying an important payload for planetary exploration: the Phoenix, NASA's latest mission to Mars. If all goes well, Phoenix should land in the northern polar region of Mars in May 2008, giving scientists…
May 29, 2007
One of the great things about the international nature of the Fair is the insight some projects provide on the problems facing their home countries and regions. Take for instance the team project in Plant Science by Eduardo Manuel Soares Guerreiro, Estela Da Silva Guerreiro, and Rita Catarina Ramos…
May 24, 2007
Kelvin Chiong of Sarawak, Malaysia posted this cool photo of the Malaysian and Brazilian delegations, and some other friends:
Share your photos, too. Post them to Flickr with the tag "intelisef."
May 23, 2007
Alex Griffin, an Alaskan student observer at this year's Intel ISEF, snapped these choice photos during an afternoon hot air balloon ride over Albuquerque, which was just one of the many tours offered through the Fair organizers.
You can view the full set of twenty pictures in higher resolution…
May 21, 2007
Earlier last week, we had the privilege to speak with Chang Liu, a first-time Intel ISEF finalist from Beijing, about her project and her impressions of the US and the Fair.
The short Q&A is below the fold.
Q: First, could you tell me your name, where you're from, and how old you are?
A: My…
May 21, 2007
Here are some interesting stats, courtesy of Intel:
Out of over 1,500 finalists, there were 547 individual award winners. Of these, 235 were female and 312 were male. 129 were international, and 418 were US winners (including 8 from Puerto Rico and 1 from the Virgin Islands).
Of course, this doesn…
May 18, 2007
Another lightning storm during ISEF 2007
Lightning has blazed in the skies over Albuquerque almost every night here at Intel ISEF 2007, providing a dazzing and dramatic backdrop to the Fair's events as they unfold. But the real electricity today wasn't in the wild blue yonder; it was inside…
May 18, 2007
There are three major awards ceremonies at each Intel ISEF: Special Awards, Government Awards, and Grand Awards. The Special Awards were announced yesterday night, and the Government Awards results were released this morning. In these ceremonies, more than seventy corporations, government agencies…
May 18, 2007
Last night, many of us returned to our hotel rooms to find papers with a disturbing message slipped beneath our doors. It said, in short, that we had likely been exposed to measles, a rather unpleasant disease best known for the distinctive red or brown dotted rash it causes. An electronic version…
May 17, 2007
Ahhh, yes. After sleepless nights and days on end of stressing over project setups and judging preparations, what better way to kick back and relax than to stand at one's booth for four hours taking questions from the general public and the media? It's perhaps fortunate for everyone but the…
May 16, 2007
Since no members of the media are allowed inside during judging, we waited until the finalists emerged for their lunch break at 11:45 and asked ten of them to tell us about their projects and their interactions with the judges.
First up, we spoke with Joseph Stunzi, a 17-year-old from Athens,…
May 16, 2007
It all comes down to this.
Though they hail from countries scattered far and wide across the globe, though they come from myriad different cultures and backgrounds, ultimately every ISEF finalist's journey here has been the same. For each one, the path to this day, this moment, has been paved with…
May 15, 2007
Tuesday morning started extra early for the finalists who were listed on the final violations list. Several showed up at 7 a.m. to save their projects from disqualification, and fortunately no one appeared to be in danger of missing the 10 a.m. correction deadline.
With a "media" session scheduled…
May 15, 2007
As background for the final project violations posted last night at 9:30 and the violation clearance taking place this morning from 7 to 10 a.m., we've interviewed Paula Johnson from the Scientific Review Committee (SRC) and John Cole from Display & Safety about why all those pesky rules and…
May 14, 2007
In the aftermath of last night's Student Pin Exchange, out of the dizzying array of commemorative pins, buttons, and cultural trinkets that were swapped, which emerged as the most eye-catching, coveted, and sought after?
We asked three-time Intel ISEF finalist and New Mexico native Susannah Clary…
May 14, 2007
As the floor of the convention center fills with completed displays, an overwhelming sense of significance is growing, like static in the air before a lightning strike. In terms of technical precision and real-world relevance, most of the entries here are light years beyond the stereotypical…
May 13, 2007
The Student Pin Exchange is two hours away, but finalists have already broken out their cultural booty to swap in the aisles between their projects.
It's not just students who collect and exchange pins, though. For example, check out our friend Bill Chown:
We caught up with another compulsive pin-…
May 13, 2007
The world's largest baking-soda-and-vinegar volcano is now fully operational at our Intel ISEF booth. All morning and afternoon, unsuspecting finalists have fallen victim to the noxious vapors and bubbling lava spewing from the sinister cinder cone. Oh, the humanity...
Some more choice pictures…
May 13, 2007
Intel ISEF 2007 officially began this morning at 8 a.m.! Students, teachers, parents, and observers have been streaming into the Albuquerque Convention Center to prepare the projects for review and judging. In only two hours, we've already seen delegations from Ireland, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Peru…
May 12, 2007
In 2006, Shannon Babb won both first prize at the Intel Science Talent Search (STS) and the prestigious Seaborg Award at Intel Intel ISEF for her work tracking water quality around her home in Utah. The Seaborg Award allowed her to travel to the 2006 Nobel Prizes in Stockholm, Sweden. Shannon is…
May 12, 2007
This is a website by, for, and about some of the most inspiring young people in the world: the finalists of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. This year over 1400 finalists from over 60 countries will arrive in Albuquerque, New Mexico for a week of socializing, learning,…