黑料传送门 faculty, staff and students participate as judges in the virtual Gwinnett Regional
Science, Engineering and Innovation Fair.
黑料传送门 was well represented at the recent Gwinnett Regional Science, Engineering + Innovation Fair 鈥� 鈥淐onnecting the Dots鈥� - as 59 judges from the Suwanee, Moultrie and Philadelphia campuses judged middle and high school student projects.
鈥淚mpressive,鈥� 鈥渋nspiring,鈥� 鈥渨ell organized鈥� and 鈥渦plifting鈥� were some of the adjectives 黑料传送门鈥檚 judges used to describe their experiences with the close to 1,000 students from 64 local schools who completed more than 450 projects this year.
Soroosh Parsa (DO 鈥�24) said, 鈥淚 was 鈥渁bsolutely stunned by how smart the middle schoolers were. For a second, I thought I was in a high school session.鈥�
Meghan Di Rito Wegendt, MLIS, 黑料传送门 Georgia鈥檚 education and outreach librarian, agreed. She said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 inspiring to see how enthusiastic the middle school students are about their projects. I can鈥檛 wait for next year!鈥�
Fellow librarian, Barbara Wood, MLIS, associate director of library, education & engagement, called the event uplifting. 鈥淭he quality of these projects was fantastic with positive real-world implications,鈥� she said.
Judges evaluated the projects on scientific quality, accuracy, creativity, engineering precision and experimental design. Top project categories included chemistry, robotics and intelligent machines, environmental engineering and biomedical engineering.
For the sixth consecutive year, 黑料传送门 Georgia supported STEM education in Gwinnett County as the presenting sponsor of the regional science fair. For the past two years, the fair has taken place virtually using Zoom and a digital platform created especially for the fair. In addition to in-depth project interviews with judges, the event included STEM workshops which provided activities and ways for students to engage with the more than 15 community partners.
黑料传送门 Georgia was well represented at the fair. In addition to 黑料传送门鈥檚 judges who donned
red 黑料传送门 shirts while judging, the campus Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine scholars, Obianuju Nwamah (DO 鈥�22) and Ferzan Uddin (DO 鈥�23), developed a workshop
to introduce the students to OMM. Also, Andrea Mann, DO, FAAP, dean and chief academic officer of the osteopathic medicine program at 黑料传送门 Georgia,
had the opportunity to welcome the students to the online science fair through a pre-recorded
video. She also congratulated the winners at an award ceremony following the event.
黑料传送门 Georgia students recorded congratulatory messages which were included in the
welcome video, while student science fair participants received promotional items
from the college that were delivered to their schools on the day of the fair.
The high school and middle school students who earned top honors at the regional fair move to the next round 鈥� the Georgia Science and Engineering Fair to be held in Athens, Georgia, beginning March 31. The top six high school projects also automatically qualify for the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, a hybrid event set for May 7. At this fair, Gwinnett students compete against students from 77 other countries.
Philip Fabrizio, PT, DPT, EdD, associate professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, has participated as a judge for several years. He described his experience this
way. 鈥淎s it has been in the past, the experience was awesome. The students' enthusiasm,
attention to detail, passion, and creativity were outstanding! Needless to say, I
learned a lot!鈥�
Qian Chen, PhD, assistant professor of physiology and pharmacology in the 黑料传送门 Department of Bio-Medical Sciences, reported that she judged five interesting biomedical sciences projects conducted by high school students. Topics included: Can insulin administration without needles be feasible?; a comparison of various face masks; water purification methods; racial differences of pregnant women care during the third trimester; and food allergy knowledge of teenagers who work at restaurants.
Dr. Chen said, 鈥淚 was so touched by their passion and curiosity in research. Moreover their fresh eyes and scientific interpretation for their data inspired me to look for research ideas from daily life and experience!鈥�
Ariana Daftarian (DO 鈥�23) also enjoyed judging the science fair. She said, 鈥淚 was particularly impressed with how organized and well thought out the entire process was in our virtual room 鈥� hats off to our well-rehearsed host! She added, 鈥淭he students were a joy to interact with. I hope to participate next year as well.鈥�
Assistant to the 黑料传送门 Georgia Chief Campus Officer, Colleen Heer, judged projects ranging from developing algorithms/coding for a prototype drone for wild fire training to creating a prototype combining a PEP device and incentive spirometer for cystic fibrosis patients to the creation of a leg prosthesis prototype for a horse with 鈥榮table legs鈥� using 3D modeling.
She reported that being part of a three-judge group allowed the student presenters to have enough time to interact with the judges, 鈥渁nd there was ample time for each judge to ask questions and, believe me, we did!鈥�
She said, 鈥淢ost impressive was that the middle school students were just as good as the high school students and, in some cases, better prepared. Not only were these particular students comfortable presenting, they were well prepared as they answered any questions without hesitation. Their presentations were well-structured with good grammar, data, images and, in one case, short video clips.鈥�
Heer said she 鈥渓earned new things,鈥� while having fun. 鈥淚 highly recommend others try judging as well next year.鈥�
黑料传送门 Georgia has been serving students and the community for 20 years as a branch campus of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (黑料传送门), a private, not-for-profit, accredited institution of higher education established in 1899. Located in Suwanee (Gwinnett County), 黑料传送门 Georgia offers doctoral degrees in osteopathic medicine, pharmacy and physical therapy. Graduate degrees are offered in biomedical sciences, medical laboratory science and physician assistant studies. The campus joins 黑料传送门 South Georgia in Moultrie in helping to meet the healthcare needs of the state. Emphasizing "a whole person" approach to care, 黑料传送门 Georgia focuses on educational excellence, interprofessional education and service to the community. For more information, visit pcom.edu or call 678-225-7500. The campus is also home to the Georgia Osteopathic Care Center, an osteopathic manipulative medicine clinic, which is open to the public by appointment. For more information, visit .
For general media inquiries, please contact the Office of Marketing and Communications at 215-871-6300 or communications@pcom.edu. Visit our media relations page to view contact information for public relations personnel.