OLD WESTBURY, NY – The Research Association of Long Island, New York announced that the WAC Lighting Foundation once again sponsored its annual event, for the eighth consecutive year. Created to help promote the education and careers of young scientists, the 2019 WAC Lighting Invitational Science Fair took place on April 17h at The Wheatley School in Old Westbury, New York.
The WAC Invitational Science Fair symposium offers over 400 students from Long Island, New York high schools the opportunity to present their research projects to esteemed judges from leading institutions and businesses. The Research Association is a consortium of 13 Long Island, NY high schools represented by teachers advising students that science research is an active avenue into understanding the true nature of science.
“This science fair lets students know that it’s wonderful to excel in science and we are honored to sponsor the Invitational Science Fair again this year,” explained WAC Lighting President Shelley Wald. “Perhaps some of these young scientists will help solve some of the world’s greatest challenges and contribute to a greater quality of life for all of us.”
The fair includes eight major categories with winners selected from projects developed and completed by high school seniors and underclass students (grades 9-12). Awards and scholarships are presented to winners of First, Second and Third Places, as well as Merits and Honorable Mentions. The topics of research are as varied as the students. Students may spend months or years exploring cures to different types of cancer or producing energy efficient fuel alternatives.
Participating students have spent months and even years, in labs exploring Earth and Environmental Science, Prototype Engineering; Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; General Biology; Behavioral Science; Chemistry; Physics and Astronomy; and Computer Science and Computational Modeling.
“The great thing about this science fair is that our judges are scientists and they engage our students in very high level conversations about their work,” explained Alan Schorn, President of the Research Association. ”We are very thankful to WAC Lighting for making this science fair possible.”
Participating students have gone on to pursue advanced studies at leading educational institutions: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stony Brook University, Harvard, Yale, Brown, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, the University of Rochester, Carnegie Mellon, Dartmouth, Princeton, Columbia, NYU and other top universities.
Judges include over 135 academicians and professionals who are affiliated with leading universities, hospitals and other institutions including: Brookhaven National Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Columbia University, Long Island University, New York University, North Shore University Hospital-LIJ Medical Center, Wiell Cornell Medical College, Hofstra University and Mount Sinai Medical Center, St. Johns University and Fordham University, Adelphi and Hofstra University.
WAC Lighting has been driving lighting quality backed by technological innovation and making it accessible to the marketplace for more than 30 years. Visit the website at: www.waclighting.com
