This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
The weekend of October 8-9, 2016, I had the pleasure of attending GeekGirlCon and volunteering in the DIYSciZone. It is always a blast being in the zone and hanging out with smiling faced kiddos who want to explore the world of science and engineering with creativity and hands-on fun.
Credit: DNLee
This year, I got all dressed up, Cosplaying as the very newly unveiled mascot of the DIYSciZone, Dr. Mae. Named after the first African American woman, NASA Astronaunt, Dr. Mae Jemison is a real-life inspiration for little girls who dream of doing the impossible, bigly things of science and engineering.
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Credit: DNLee
And the future of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) will be among the creative and imaginative youth of the today. Recently, the National Science Foundation has created a new competition for high school students that have this inherent creative interest in comics and cosplaying and STEM: Generation Nano: Small Science, Superheroes.
Credit: NSF
Finalists will present their entries at the 2016 USA Science & Engineering Festival, as well as compete for cash prizes. The aim of the competition is to get young people thinking about the many ways nanotechnology could be used to save lives, improve well-being and make things better for us all.
More competition and submission details are here:
Competition details:
High School students, individuals or teams of 2 or 3
Entries can be a graphic novel/art OR a live action (Video recorded)
Students must submit a written entry explaining their superhero and nanotechnology-driven gear, along with a one-page comic or 90-second video.
Cash prizes are $1,500 for first place, $1,000 for second place and $500 for third place.
Finalists will showcase their comic or video at the 2016 USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C. Final-round judging will take place at the festival.
Submissions are due by midnight on January 31, 2017.
Visit the Generation Nano competition website for full eligibility criteria, entry guidelines, timeline and prize information.
And keep me in the loop. I love hearing about all of the great things you are doing.