65th Annual – and first virtual – Austin Energy Regional Science Fest

March 4, 2021

Who:

Austin Science Education Foundation and Austin Energy

What:

The 65th Annual Austin Energy Regional Science Festival, is one of the largest city-sponsored science fairs in the country. Austin Energy has sponsored the fest in some capacity for more than two decades and became its title sponsor in 2003. The AERSF covers 12 counties and 23 school districts and is one of the few regional fairs that include elementary school students. This year, following COVID-19 safety guidelines, the event transitioned to an all-virtual platform. The awards ceremonies will stream live on various digital platforms.

When:

March 4, 2021 – Junior Division Awards Ceremony, 5:30-6 p.m.
March 4, 2021 – Senior Division Awards Ceremony, 7-7:30 p.m.

Where:

About AERSF

The Austin Energy Regional Science Festival encourages and rewards innovative student research and provides scientists, engineers and other professionals a chance to volunteer in the community.

This year, elementary students from 92 schools participated with 725 projects. About 90 judges evaluated students’ electronic project boards over a period of four days (Feb 1-4) and awarded 1st, 2nd and 3rd place ribbons, as well as a few special awards.

In the Junior Division (middle school), 294 students submitted 279 projects. In the Senior Division (high school), 210 students submitted 193 projects. Both Junior and Senior Divisions were judged via video interviews by teams of subject matter experts in February. Six projects were selected to advance directly to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, which will also be virtual this year.

AERSF is of the few regional fairs in the country that conducted video interviews with all middle and high school students; other fairs opted to select top projects via a documentation review and then invite only those students to be interviewed online.

Winning Junior/Senior division projects advance to the Texas Science and Engineering Fair. Best of Fair Senior Division projects advance directly to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair. AERSF is a Regeneron ISEF-affiliated science competition.

Several area companies helped sponsor this year’s Austin Energy Regional Science Festival. The major sponsors are Dell Technologies (Anchor Sponsor), Synopsys and 3M (Gold Level Sponsors) and Austin Energy (Title Sponsor).

About The Austin Science Education Foundation

The Austin Science Education Foundation (ASEF), an IRS recognized nonprofit organization, promotes students' knowledge of and involvement in science, technology, engineering and math by enabling participation in the Austin Energy Regional Science Festival and supporting students selected to advance to the Texas Science and Engineering Fair and the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair.

About Austin Energy

Customer Driven. Community Focused.

Austin Energy, the City of Austin’s electric utility, lights a brighter future for more than 500,000 customer accounts and more than one million residents in Greater Austin. The utility’s commitment to providing value powers the community and the innovation and culture that has made Austin a destination city. Austin Energy has powered the community for 125 years, delivering safe, affordable, reliable energy and excellent customer service. The publicly owned utility will continue to shine a light into the future. For more information about Austin Energy, visit austinenergy.com.