We're two days into the science fair and Atlanta is packed with aspiring young talent from end to end. Everywhere I walk in Atlanta, I can expect to see the signature orange finalist ribbon dangling across someone's neck. It's as if we've taken over the city in a matter of days. I'm not complaining though. Geeks everywhere. Science in the air. What more could I ask for?
Let me take you back through the past two days so that you can vicariously see ISEF up and close. Trust me if you have even the smallest inkling of nerdiness in your blood, this will be a treat you don't want to miss :p.
As we were driving in on the ridiculous 7 lane highway, Atlanta's skyline slowly became visible, popping out from amongst the trees. In addition, to the weather being good on Sunday, the rental company gave us a covertible and so my friend, chaperone, and I drove into Atlanta with the top down and the tunes blazing (<-- who are we kidding, we were'nt listing to music...I was reading).
When we finally made our way through the streets to the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC), the wind had picked up and was blowing everything. Luckily, we survived. ISEF takes up the entire GWCC to my knowledge. Regardless, it is humungous. I'm not just talking about the exhibition hall, which rocks in its own right. I'm talking about all the rooms, including the e-lounge filled with internet enabled laptops and a plasma and the presentation room filled with awesomeness (aka a huge, huge projection screen).
Sunday night was the pin exchange in which I met many old friends and many new. My name badge strap now has pins all over it from all sorts of countries. For the record, it's funny how many Stanford pre-frosh are here. I met like 10 at the exchange, but only 2 MIT '12ers.
I spent Sunday evening and Monday morning setting up my project and after about 4 hours I was finally approved. My project check was funny and unnerving at the same time because the inspector kept analyzing the leeches in my pictures attempting to ensure that their weren't any ghastly views of the dissection process. Apparently, there are thousands of young students coming out on Thursday who would be disgusted by opened animals. Plus, there's the whole issue with animal rights.
The HUB in the exhibition hall is by far the coolest feature available to exhibitors as it has endless supplies of every single tool and type of material you would ever need.
Monday night was the opening ceremony, which had the exact same setup that I've seen in the online videos. I was overjoyed to finally experience it all in person. The swinging cameras definitely add to the whole glorified atmosphere of the event. It rocked. I have many videos of the Atlanta Drumline (featured in the movie Drumline) performing, the Intel CEO giving a lecture, weatherman Nick Walker from the Weather Channel hosting, the president of Society For the Science and the Public encouraging us, and Philipe Cousteau from "Oceans" motivating the crowd. The shout outs came afterward where reps from each country sprinted up onto stage with posters inducing shouts and clapping from their respective countries. The entire night was just amazing.
The host (weatherman) is on the left and Phillipe is on the right.
After the event, I got a picture of everyone leaving the hall. Anyone care to do a Fermi estimate of this?
Of course, any trip to a great city isn't complete without the obligatory skyline photos.
Today I hope to see the CNN tower and go the Science and Technology Panel with Nobel laureates. Then tonight is the dinner in the aquarium and dessert at the Coca Cola center. Tomorrow is judging!
Let me take you back through the past two days so that you can vicariously see ISEF up and close. Trust me if you have even the smallest inkling of nerdiness in your blood, this will be a treat you don't want to miss :p.
As we were driving in on the ridiculous 7 lane highway, Atlanta's skyline slowly became visible, popping out from amongst the trees. In addition, to the weather being good on Sunday, the rental company gave us a covertible and so my friend, chaperone, and I drove into Atlanta with the top down and the tunes blazing (<-- who are we kidding, we were'nt listing to music...I was reading).
When we finally made our way through the streets to the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC), the wind had picked up and was blowing everything. Luckily, we survived. ISEF takes up the entire GWCC to my knowledge. Regardless, it is humungous. I'm not just talking about the exhibition hall, which rocks in its own right. I'm talking about all the rooms, including the e-lounge filled with internet enabled laptops and a plasma and the presentation room filled with awesomeness (aka a huge, huge projection screen).
Sunday night was the pin exchange in which I met many old friends and many new. My name badge strap now has pins all over it from all sorts of countries. For the record, it's funny how many Stanford pre-frosh are here. I met like 10 at the exchange, but only 2 MIT '12ers.
I spent Sunday evening and Monday morning setting up my project and after about 4 hours I was finally approved. My project check was funny and unnerving at the same time because the inspector kept analyzing the leeches in my pictures attempting to ensure that their weren't any ghastly views of the dissection process. Apparently, there are thousands of young students coming out on Thursday who would be disgusted by opened animals. Plus, there's the whole issue with animal rights.
The HUB in the exhibition hall is by far the coolest feature available to exhibitors as it has endless supplies of every single tool and type of material you would ever need.
Monday night was the opening ceremony, which had the exact same setup that I've seen in the online videos. I was overjoyed to finally experience it all in person. The swinging cameras definitely add to the whole glorified atmosphere of the event. It rocked. I have many videos of the Atlanta Drumline (featured in the movie Drumline) performing, the Intel CEO giving a lecture, weatherman Nick Walker from the Weather Channel hosting, the president of Society For the Science and the Public encouraging us, and Philipe Cousteau from "Oceans" motivating the crowd. The shout outs came afterward where reps from each country sprinted up onto stage with posters inducing shouts and clapping from their respective countries. The entire night was just amazing.
The host (weatherman) is on the left and Phillipe is on the right.
After the event, I got a picture of everyone leaving the hall. Anyone care to do a Fermi estimate of this?
Of course, any trip to a great city isn't complete without the obligatory skyline photos.
Today I hope to see the CNN tower and go the Science and Technology Panel with Nobel laureates. Then tonight is the dinner in the aquarium and dessert at the Coca Cola center. Tomorrow is judging!
Paul
May 15, 2008 at 8:11 AM
Good luck with the judging!
NoOoSa
May 18, 2008 at 6:29 PM