California Science and Engineering Fair

California Science and Engineering Fair
NicknameCSEF
StatusActive
GenreScience fair
FrequencyAnnually
VenueCalifornia Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, California[a]
CountryUnited States
Years active73
InauguratedApril 19, 1952 (1952-04-19)
FounderCalifornia Science Teachers' Association
Previous eventApril 13, 2025
Next eventApril 12, 2026
Participants900
ActivityScientific research
Organized byCalifornia Science and Engineering Fair Foundation
SponsorAmgen and Broadcom
Websitecsef.usc.edu

The California Science and Engineering Fair (or CSEF), previously known as the California State Science Fair, is a science fair held annually in Los Angeles, California. It serves as the final science fair of the academic year and is a feeder competition to the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and the Thermo Fisher Junior Innovators Challenge (TFJIC).[2] First established in 1952, CSEF was designated the state's official science fair in 1990 and ran its 74th fair in 2025.[3][4]

Every year, roughly 900 students from middle schools and high schools across California compete across two divisions and eighteen categories for the chance to win over $30,000 in prizes.[5]

History

No fair was held in 2020 as officials cited the COVID-19 pandemic as grounds for cancellation. The 69th was deferred to 2021.

Qualification

The fair is fed by 28 regional science fairs, each of which is allocated a number of projects based on their number of participants. Projects can qualify by either placing first or second in their category at these fairs.[6] The allocation in 2009 was 908 projects, an average of 24.7 projects per million population.[7]

Fair Located in Number of projects
Humboldt County Science Fair[8] Eureka, California 16
Modoc County STEM Fair[9] Alturas, California 6
Mendocino County Science Fair Ukiah, California 10
Glenn County STEM Expo[10] Orland, California 6
Colusa County Science and Engineering Fair[11] Colusa, California 6
Nevada County Science Fair Grass Valley, California 6
Solano County Science Fair[12] Vallejo, California 6
Contra Costa County Science and Engineering Fair[13] Danville, California 18
Golden Gate STEM Fair[14] San Francisco, California 32
Alameda County Science and Engineering Fair Alameda, California 25
Sacramento Regional STEM Fair[15] Sacramento, California 21
Calaveras County Science Fair San Andreas, California 6
San Mateo County STEM Fair Atherton, California 20
Santa Cruz County Science and Engineering Fair[16] Watsonville, California 38
Synopsys Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship[17] San Jose, California 101
San Joaquin County Science Fair Stockton, California 8
Merced STEM Fair[18] Merced, California 6
Monterey County Science and Engineering Fair[19] Salinas, California 21
San Benito County Science Fair[20] Hollister, California 6
Fresno County Science Fair[21] Fresno, California 50
Tulare County Science and Engineering Fair[22] Porterville, California 6
Santa Barbara County Science Fair[23] Santa Barbara, California 23
Kern County Regional Science Fair[24] Bakersfield, California 36
Ventura County Science Fair[25] Camarillo, California 35
Los Angeles County Science and Engineering Fair[26] Pasadena, California 94
SIM Science and Engineering Fair[27] San Bernardino, California 23
Riverside County Science and Engineering Fair[28] Riverside, California 38
Orange County Science and Engineering Fair[29] Orange, California 81
Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair San Diego, California 89

Awards

Awards, given in several categories across both divisions, are posted shortly after the fair ends each year.[30] Roughly two to three projects amongst the first-place Senior division category winners are chosen to advance to ISEF.

At the 2009 fair, major awards included the Patricia Beckman Project of the Year Award—David Zarrin of Redwood Middle School, Saratoga won the Junior Division ($5,000 award) and Anna K. Simpson of Patrick Henry Senior High School, San Diego won the Senior Division ($10,000).[31] There are also many special awards sponsored by various organizations, some with cash prizes.[32]

Notes

  1. ^ The venue varies. As of 2026, the fair is held at California Lutheran University, after having previously been held at the California Science Center until 2020.[1]

References

  1. ^ Huey, Makena (March 28, 2025). "Science fair". Thousand Oaks Acorn. Retrieved March 17, 2026.
  2. ^ Conrad, Bill (October 22, 2025). "Invest in science fairs to reignite the spark of STEM". EdSource. Retrieved March 17, 2026.
  3. ^ Lyons, Noah (May 3, 2025). "Three La Jolla students win big at California Science and Engineering Fair". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved March 17, 2026.
  4. ^ "California State Assembly: Concurrent Resolution 1990 - 141". California Science and Engineering Fair. Retrieved March 17, 2026.
  5. ^ Stierch, Sarah (March 20, 2025). "14 Mendocino County students to head to Southern California to compete in state science fair". The Mendocino Voice. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  6. ^ "Pasadena Student Wins Top Engineering Award at County Science Fair". Pasadena Now. March 27, 2025. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  7. ^ "2009 California State Science Fair Projects by Fair". May 25, 2009. Archived from the original on May 1, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
  8. ^ "'Thinking like real scientists' takes 7 students to state science fair". The Times-Standard. March 18, 2026. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  9. ^ Anderson, Will (February 11, 2026). "Science Fair being held at Sierra View Elementary School next week". Action News Now. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  10. ^ Gottesman, Kyra (May 14, 2019). "Students show science knowledge at Glenn County STEM Expo". Chico Enterprise-Record. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  11. ^ Green, Lloyd (February 12, 2026). "Students Shine at County Science Fair". Colusa County Pioneer Review. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  12. ^ "Science Fair celebrates student innovation". Daily Republic. March 14, 2026. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  13. ^ Israel Samuels, Ilana (May 9, 2024). "Over 100 San Ramon Valley school district students receive county, state recognition at Science & Engineering Fair competitions". Contra Costa Herald. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  14. ^ Chu, Jolene (March 15, 2024). "STEM Fair Continues into its Ninth Year". M-A Chronicle. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  15. ^ Newell, Traci (May 14, 2021). "E.V. Cain Middle School boasts academic award winners". Gold Mountain California News. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  16. ^ "Students don science hats for Science and Engineering Fair". Santa Cruz Sentinel. March 2, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  17. ^ Dorsey, Dustin (March 14, 2019). "Innovative student science fair projects on display in Downtown San Jose". ABC7. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  18. ^ McMullen, Dylan (April 27, 2018). "Atwater, Merced Take Top Honors at STEM Fair". Merced County Times. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  19. ^ Adami, Chelcey (March 19, 2018). "Salinas High students win top awards at Monterey County Science and Engineering Fair". The Salinas Californian. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  20. ^ "San Benito County Office of Education announces STEAM Expo winners". BenitoLink. March 24, 2022. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  21. ^ KFSN (March 17, 2026). "Fresno County students prepare for the annual science fair". AOL. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  22. ^ "Westfield, Summit students advance to State Science Fair". Porterville Recorder. March 7, 2025. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  23. ^ "Solvang School students capture science fair awards". Santa Ynez Valley News. March 12, 2018. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  24. ^ Knox, Jasmin (March 4, 2026). "Downtown Bakersfield hosts Kern County science fair at Dignity Health Arena". Bakersfield Now. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  25. ^ Murphy, Eamon (March 29, 2025). "Student scientists excel in county brain contest". Simi Valley Acorn. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  26. ^ Kisliuk, Bill (April 4, 2012). "Students win top awards at L.A. County Science Fair". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  27. ^ "Young San Bernardino County scientists compete at fair". The San Bernardino Sun. March 6, 2025. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  28. ^ Eduardo Hernandez, Daniel (March 2, 2026). "At The Riverside County Science Fair, The Experiments Are Just The Beginning". The Riverside Record. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  29. ^ Pichardo, Nicole (April 20, 2021). "Orange County students take home top honors at annual science and engineering fair". OCDE Newsroom. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  30. ^ "Current Category awards". Archived from the original on August 17, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
  31. ^ "CALIFORNIA STATE SCIENCE FAIR Major Fair Awards – 2010". Archived from the original on August 17, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
  32. ^ "Special and Recognition Awards". Archived from the original on February 1, 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.