Young Scientists

By Léa Drolet-Roy  

During the past three days, at Collège Saint-Charles-Garnier, the Expo-sciences regional final took place. 115 students aged from 12 to 20 years old presented their science projects to lots of visitors.

The participants arrived on Thursday morning. First, they received a few things, such as their identification badge. Then, they had two hours to set up their stand and get it approved by the officials before the icebreaker activity, in which they learned to know each other and laughed a lot. After the lunch break, it was time to welcome the first visitors for a whole three hours of presentations. Then, it was already time to go back home after a day filled with activities as well as new friends.

Friday was given to school visits. This way, participants could present a lot and work on their vulgarisation abilities by presenting complex projects to elementary school students. This second day ended with some scientists meeting the participants to inform them about medicine, engineering, and many other scientific employment opportunities. Finally, everybody went back home to have a rest before the last and challenging day coming.

Saturday was the judging and awards ceremony day. The judges arrived early to get ready to evaluate the projects they were assigned to. The participants, as for them, arrived some time after. The stress, but also the enthusiasm, while presenting their projects to specialists was palpable. It was amazing to see the discussions between younger scientists and more experienced ones. Many participants told they were satisfied with how it went. Everyone enjoyed the lunch break and was ready for the last visitors coming during the afternoon. This visit time was full of astonishment.

Finally, at the end of Saturday afternoon, it was time to announce the winners of this regional final. Many prizes were given for a lot of exceptional projects. Thirteen projects have been chosen to represent Québec et Chaudière-Appalaches at the provincial final taking place in Shawinigan from April 19 to 22. And, the first prize was awarded to William Grey from the Cégep de Thetford for his project Nouveaux biocomposites.

To conclude, everyone did an excellent job before and during this event. We learned a lot and impressed several people.