February 18 – 21, 2015
Palmer Events Center
www.sciencefest.austinenergy.com

AERSF 2014 Statistics
Jr / Sr Division
• Projects:
• Students:
• Schools:
• School Districts:
• Judges &Volunteers:
637
725
53
21 over 500

New:
• School Registration – ONLINE system
• Easier navigation
• Easier review process (no more limbo projects)
• More tools for fair directors
• Media Release & State Media Release done online, No more re-registering for state!
• Payments can now be done online
• Students must log in and confirm that they are attending the fair after your school has finalized
Not new but worth mentioning:
• Parking will be free of charge to all participants at the Palmer Parking Garage.
• Team Projects are no longer judged separately from individual projects, they are judged in their respective categories.
• No project in which the student has used potato guns, compressed air canister, explosive projectile devices or firearms will be allowed in the Jr. Division.

ISEF CHANGES
Hazardous Materials Activities & Devices
• Projects involving consumable alcohol (Ethanol) can’t be done at home.
Form changes
• Research Plan- Now includes “Rationale” section

• Deadline to finalize School Registration
Thursday , January 29, 2015, 5:00 p.m.
• Science Festival – Palmer Events Center
Wednesday-Thursday, February 18-21, 2015

Thursday January 29, 2015 at 5:00 p.m.
ON TIME LATE (after 5pm, Feb. 3)
Student Project Fee $15
School Registration Fee $35
$25
$75
No late entry for Scientist Training Students

1.
School Fair Director registers school online before students start their projects at www.sciencefest.org
2.
Director logs in and updates teacher contact list, this will give teachers online accounts to access projects
3.
Director creates School SRC online
4.
Each and every student will setup their own individual online account before they start their projects.
5.
The system will guide the students start to finish through their projects.
6.
When finished school will select their winners online.
7.
School will have access to all registration and student information and can export data in Excel Format for their own use.

 Register your school early!
 Update your contacts!
 Form an Institutional Review Board (IRB/SRC) at your school. (More on this later!)
 Have students begin registration before they start their projects! The system will guide them!

 Select your winners online and finalize school registration.
 Pay your registration fees.

• Projects that deal with the following will require a School Committee to give prior approval and are more complicated to complete properly:
– Human Participants Studies (including surveys, questionnaires, etc)
– Vertebrate Animal Studies
– Biological Agents (microorganisms, culturing etc..)
– Vertebrate (including Human)Tissues, body fluids, blood etc…

Approves projects that involve Human subjects prior to start of experimentation
Membership:
• Educator
• School Administrator
• Someone knowledgeable about evaluating risk
(MD, PA, RN, psychiatrist, psychologist, licensed social worker)

Reviews some projects before experimentation
• Vertebrate animals
• Hazardous biological agents
• Drug Enforcement Agency controlled substances
• Required SRC Members (at least 1 of each)
– biomedical scientist (Ph.D., M.D., D.V.M., D.D.S., D.O.)
– educator
– one other member

• Minimum Required 3 Members for a combined SRC/IRB
– SRC Chair – has degree or equivalent experience and knowledge in the biological sciences. (MS, MD, PhD, DDS etc. preferred)
– Human Risk Evaluator - knowledgeable about evaluating risk
(MD, RN, BSN, licensed social worker, psychiatrist, psychologist, school counselor)
– School Administrator – (Principal, Vice-Principal, School
Counselor, School Director, etc.)

• Has solid background in science
• Maintains close contact with student during the course of the project
• Oversees that project is within rules and guidelines
• Responsible for guiding student with health and safety concerns and managing their project
• Completes Form 1 – Checklist for Adult Sponsor

• Required only for some projects involving human subjects, vertebrate animals, hazardous biological agents, or DEA-controlled substances
• Must have advanced degree or expertise related to student’s area of research and be familiar with rules governing that area of research
• May reside in another state (in that case, a Designated
Supervisor must oversee student’s experimentation)
• May be the same person as the Adult Sponsor
• Completes Form 2 – QS Form

• Supervises project experimentation when
Qualified Scientist cannot directly supervise
• Need not have advanced degree, but must be thoroughly familiar with student’s project and trained in the area of research
• “Animal Care Supervisor” for animal projects
• Supervises projects using Hazardous Chemicals,
Activities or Devices

Forms that ALL students must complete(managed by online system):
• Form 1 – Checklist for Adult Sponsor
• Form 1A – Student Checklist
• Form 1B – Approval Form
• A Research Plan
• An Abstract
• Media Release

Involve living individuals with:
– Intervention or interaction with subjects or manipulation of their environment including surveys and/or
– Collection of identifiable private information
Not Human Subjects studies
– Student Invention testing using him/herself only and does not pose a health or safety hazard
– Review of publicly available data
– Observations at unrestricted public settings

• Require IRB review and approval of research plan before experimentation begins
• IRB evaluates and determines
– Risk level
– Requirement for informed consent
– Requirement for Qualified Scientist

(Risk level to be determined by the school’s IRB)
• Exercise
• Ingestion, Smelling, or Tasting
• Emotional stress – survey, stimuli
• Invasion of privacy
• Breech of confidentiality

Jr. Division students may NOT conduct a project that includes:
• the students use of a firearm, air pressure canister device, or potato gun;
• chemicals hazardous to student health, or radioactive materials;
• any other activity or substances that present a danger to the student.
Sr. Division students who design experiments that include:
• discharging a firearm or air pressure canister devices;
• chemicals hazardous to student health, or radioactive materials;
• any other activity or substance that presents a danger to the student
…must carefully follow the Intel ISEF Rules and Guidelines.

• We highly recommend you view the presentation made available by the ISEF SRC.
• Share with your IRB and SRC members, teachers, parents, and others interested in finding out more about ISEF Rules. www.societyforscience.org/isef

• For special populations of students
• Available in all divisions for individual or team projects
• The basic rules and guidelines are the same, but the paperwork requirements may differ
• Notify us if student has specific requirements
• Students may not advance to the state fair

• Austin Energy Best of Fair
• Austin Energy Best Use of Electricity
• Austin Energy Best Use of Renewable Energy
• Austin Energy Science, Math & Engineering Scholarship
• Austin Energy Sweepstakes Award and Scholarship
• Broadcom Masters

• SXSWedu – 6,000 educators, administrators, entrepreneurs & policy leaders
• 2013 – Future Plans College & Career Fair – Reimagined college & career event for 1,000
Central Texas students
• 2014 – Becomes the Education Expo, “a celebration of Central Texas’ hunger and passion for lifelong learning, from cradle to career and beyond.”
• Brought 4,500+ Attendees

• SXSWedu will be inviting Top 3 winners from each of 17 categories in Middle & High School competitions
• 2014 – Showcased 32 winning projects at the
Education Expo – FANTASTIC RESPONSE
• EdExpo is held Tuesday, March 10, 2-8pm,
Austin Convention Center
• Sponsoring teachers of invited projects will be provided gratis registration to SXSWedu !

• American Meteorological Society
• American Psychological Assn.
• Association for Women Geoscientists
• Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Association
• Intel Excellence in Computer Science Service
• MU Alpha Theta
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• National Society of Professional Engineers
• Society of Women Engineers
• Synopsys Intel ISEF Travel Award
• U. S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Yale Science and Engineering Association

• February 18-21, 2015
– Austin Energy Regional Science Festival
– Austin Texas
• March March 3 - 6, 2015
– SXSWedu
– Austin, TX
• March 26 - 29, 2015
– Texas Science and Engineering Fair
– San Antonio Texas
• May 7- May 11, 2015
– ISWEEEP
– Houston Texas
• May 10-15, 2015
– Intel International Science and Engineering Fair
– Pittsburgh, PA

Austin Energy Regional Science Festival www.sciencefest.austinenergy.com
Intel ISEF – rules, info, etc.
www.societyforscience.org/isef
Austin Science Education Foundation– Non-profit created to help support Science Fest www.austinscience.org
Science Fair support – ideas and “how to” for projects www.sciencebuddies.com

sciencefest@austinenergy.com
Russell Cowen, Regional Fair Director russell.cowen@austinenergy.com
(512) 972-9532
Advisory Committee Members:
Barbara tenBrink
Michele Mann
SueAnn Decuir
Lisa Rogers
Ingrid Weigand

Requirements for an Online/Paperless system.
• Students and teachers must have Internet Access
• All paperwork required for uploads MUST be in PDF format!
• Browser and PC must be able to view PDF files! Java Script must be enabled. Pop-ups must be allowed.
• Every user must have a unique e-mail address.
• Students with no e-mail can create an e-mail account with us.
• Students whose parents have no computer access can sign the
Media Release and Approval Form and have it uploaded by the teacher.

• No more Forms!!
• Save a whole rain forest every year
• Save schools & students the headache of choosing, signing and filling out forms
• Ability to use the registration data for school fairs
• Teachers have access to student project data to aid the student
• Step by step process, easier to follow, easier to understand
• Seamless advancement to higher fairs with less errors
• Integrated guidelines for students and SRC reviewers
• More difficult for students to make paperwork mistakes

Student Screen