On Tuesday, Jan. 9, the University will host the regional tournament
of the New Jersey Science Olympiad, a test of science knowledge and
aptitude for more than 500 middle school and high school students.
The event, sponsored by the Research and Development Council of New
Jersey and co-sponsored by the University, will take place from 8:15
a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at various locations across campus, including
McDonnell, Fine and Guyot halls, Schulz Lab and Jadwin Gym.
Led by Princeton's Office of Research and Project Administration, a
number of faculty and staff members and undergraduate and graduate
students contributed their time and expertise to planning and running
the event. Many of the University's leading experts in the sciences and
engineering helped to design events and test questions that will
challenge students' knowledge and problem-solving abilities, as well as
their teamwork, group planning and cooperation skills. The 30
interdisciplinary events include the "Disease Detectives" competition
to solve a public health problem and "Mission Possible," a challenge to
build a complex machine that performs a simple task.
Students representing teams from 17 middle schools and 20 high schools
are registered to compete. The top finishing teams at the Princeton
tournament will advance to the March state finals at Middlesex County
College in Edison, and top finishers will advance to the finals at
Wichita State University in Kansas. The Science Olympiad was created 23
years ago to provide an alternative to traditional science fairs and
includes members from 14,000 schools in all 50 states, Mexico and
Canada.
Representatives of the news media who are interested in attending or
want more information must contact Director of Engineering
Communications Steven Schultz at (609) 258-3617 or sschultz@princeton.edu.
