Arts, Sports & Culture

Photos: Pittsburgh-area students compete at Carnegie Science Center science fair

90.5 WESA | By Zoe Fuller

Published March 29, 2023 at 5:30 AM EDT

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On Tuesday, March 28, and Wednesday, March 29, local students traveled to the Carnegie Science Center to compete in the Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair. “It took me a long time to work on this project," said student Rishi Krishmamurthy. "I started last year in December and worked a lot over the holiday break.” Some students work on their projects for several years.

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While the judges confer, students are welcomed to a college fair in the lunchroom. The middle-schoolers talk to producers Thermo Fisher Scientific about what careers their science skills might lead them to pursue.

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Suit-clad students wait to be released for lunch time.

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Students can vote on their favorite presentation, and the winner will receive the Student Choice Award.

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Seventh-grader Zion Merrel shares her project journal documenting her experiment, “Measuring Skyglow in Greater Pittsburgh.”

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The program has seen a serious decrease in participation since COVID, but it’s slowly working its way back. Where the event once drew more than 1,000 students, less than 500 attended this year.

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A student plays with the space exhibit while waiting for the judges.

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Judges score students' presentations. The competition considers such categories as biology, physics and astronomy, and behavior and consumer sciences.

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Chuck Vukotich has been judging the competition for 30 years. In regard to the students around him, Vukotich said: “They will be the Commander-in-Chief. They will be scientists. They will lead public health. They'll be the next Dr. Faucis.”

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Some attendees anxiously wandered or joked with their friends, while others read quietly and waited.

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On Tuesday, the Science Center held the middle school competitions, with sixth grade falling under the junior division and seventh and eighth grades under the intermediate division. The senior division, which included grades nine--12, is scheduled for Wednesday.

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On Tuesday, March 28, and Wednesday, March 29, local students traveled to the Carnegie Science Center to compete in the Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair. Students presented their science projects to a series of judges, addressing such questions as “How does carbon dioxide affect the growth of basil?” and “Does your dad love his lawn, too?”

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The lunchroom of students buzzes with excitement as the anxiety of the day wanes, and the students await their results.

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Students wait beside their posters as judges come around to ask questions and hear the prepared presentations.

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Students in grades 6-12 in the Pittsburgh region will come to the Carnegie Science Center on Tuesday and Wednesday to present their personal science projects.

Categories for these projects include biology, Earth and environment, computer science and math, and consumer science. After presenting their projects to a series of volunteer judges, students have the chance to win in their select categories, as well as the Student Choice Award selected by their peers.

The program saw a rapid decline during COVID-19. Chief of the judge advisory committee Chuck Vukotich said it’s “been a very difficult time for science fairs, for science in general in the schools, because the schools are still recovering from COVID. Science clubs aren't being done. But hopefully next year we'll be back.”

The competition typically welcomes 1,000 students, although this year the number of participants was less than 500. But, the students continue to show up, and officials at the Carnegie Science Center hope these numbers will continue to grow.