The 14th Annual Southern Connecticut Science & Engineering Fair will be Saturday, February 8, Newtown High School.

The fair is sponsored by the Southern Connecticut Science & Engineering Foundation (SCSEF). Over 500 students and judges are expected to attend from towns including Newtown, Darien, Glastonbury, Greenwich, Hamden, Redding, Ridgefield, Westport and Woodbridge. NHS science teacher Tim Dejulio is in charge of Newtown-related logistics and a proud champion of 11 students from Newtown who will be participating.

The public is welcomed to view the exhibits starting at noon, free of charge. The public is also welcome to the awards ceremony and listen to keynote speaker David Pogue, award-winning journalist, author and TV host, who will speak at 1:30. The event should conclude by 3.

Mr Pogue, technology columnist for The New York Times, was recently tapped to lead the expansion of tech coverage at Yahoo! by CEO Marissa Mayer. He is the host of NOVA ScienceNow and other science shows on PBS, is in Scientific American every month, and has been a correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning since 2002.

With over three million books in print, Mr Pogue is one of the world’s bestselling how-to authors. He wrote or co-wrote seven books in the “For Dummies” series (including Macs, magic, opera, and classical music). He graduated summa cum laude from Yale in 1985, with distinction in music, and he spent ten years conducting and arranging Broadway musicals in New York.

He has won an Emmy, a Loeb Award for journalism, and an honorary doctorate in music.

The Southern Connecticut Science & Engineering Fair was started in 2001 by the Southern Connecticut Science & Engineering Foundation (SCSEF) and has seen rapid growth. SCSEF promotes critical thinking skills, and motivates students to pursue science and engineering after high school.

Students receive awards in four categories: health sciences, physical sciences, environmental sciences and behavioral sciences. Within each category, awards are given for both completed projects and research proposals.

SCSEF, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, advocates for the study, understanding and practice of science and engineering, and seeks to inspire and educate students, academics, parents and other members of its communities. In addition to sponsoring SCSEF each year, the foundation has hosted events for students to see the practical application of science, including a visit to Pratt & Whitney’s aircraft engine facilities, a physics lesson using an actual LeMans race car and a seminar by “citizen astronaut” Greg Olsen.

Newtown High School is at 12 Berkshire Road in Sandy Hook. 

For more information about the fair, visit www.scsef.org.