From Inspiration to Innovation: The Rise, Impact, and Legacy of the Google Science Fair
Introduction
From a big hall filled with tables each with ideas from various kids to online submissions and write-ups, Science Fairs have developed through time, with each advancement being greater than the last and allowing for more people and their ideas to be showcased.
The Google Science Fair was an online science and engineering competition open to students ages 13 to 18 from around the globe. Intending to encourage them to change the world through scientific inquiry and problem-solving, the students learn about their chosen topic and develop key skills along the way.
The main aim of the Google Science Fair was to create an environment among young developing minds to motivate and encourage them to move towards science and math for performing new inventions and making their country proud worldwide. The competition let students use their minds fully and made them able to create something eco-friendly and usable for the whole nation to solve many environmental issues.
History of the Google Science Fair
The first Google Science Fair was announced in January 2011. It was started to inspire teens to answer their own “what ifs” using science, technology, engineering and math. The science fair was held yearly and the number of prizes varied each year. Unfortunately, as of 2019, no details for the next Google Science Fair have been released. It has since been discontinued. No one is sure of the exact reason but most people suspect it was due to declining participation and a shift in focus towards other initiatives such as Google's AI Impact Challenge.
How the Google Science Fair Works
The competition is open to 13- to 18-year-old students around the globe, who formulate a hypothesis, perform an experiment, and present their results. All students need an internet connection and a free Google Account to participate, and the projects have to be in English, German, Italian, Spanish, or French. The final submission has to include ten sections: the summary, an "About Me" page, the steps of the project, and a works cited page. Entries are judged on eight core criteria, which include the student's presentation, question, hypothesis, research, experiment, data, observations, and conclusion. Prizes are awarded to three finalists. The grand prize includes a National Geographic trip to the Galapagos Islands and a US$50,000 scholarship; finalists also receive a US$15,000 scholarship and assorted packages from sponsoring organizations.
Success Stories
There have been a variety of winners over the years, each with very cool ideas and projects. Here are some of their success stories:
Fionn Ferreira from Ireland found a novel approach to removing microplastics from water. He is currently a Forbes 30 under 30 listee and his invention is world known.
Faria Zubair and her partner Zain Samdani from Saudi Arabia made their project about using exoskeletons to retrain the brains of stroke patients.
Olivia Hallisey, who won Google Science Fair in 2015, submitted her work on an Ebola test that gives results in 30 minutes and doesn't require refrigeration (a prerequisite of the Ebola tests used today). She used silk fibers to stabilize the chemicals, which she used to determine whether Ebola antibodies were present in the blood. She found that the test could still be effective even after sitting at room temperature for three weeks. Olivia received a $50,000 scholarship from Google as her prize.
The Google Science Fair also had a further impact on the participants' lives after it ended. For example:
Girish Kumar developed a software called RevUP which is a system that pulls from academic websites and uses that information to create multiple-choice fill-in-the-blank questions. He then went on to receive $25,000 and a yearlong mentorship with a Google employee.
Brittany Wenger won the Google Science Fair in 2012 for creating a cloud-based tool that could help doctors more accurately diagnose breast cancer. Her app was based on a program she wrote that mimicked a brain's neural network. Her tool, Cloud for Cancer, is still online.
The Google Science Fair Experience
According to its participants, the Google Science Fair was an avenue to share their passion for science on a global platform. It provided a platform to share ideas and unlock doors to incredible opportunities such as meeting President Obama, speaking at TEDx events all over the world and being featured in some magazines. The Google Science Fair gave them the confidence to continue asking questions and developing a passion for science and engineering. Some winners were called back to judge in later years.
Of course, there were some challenges along the way, some participants admitted to being terrified, you know the thought of submitting a project or idea with a thousand other applicants as your competition hoping yours was good enough or innovative or creative enough to stand out and win.
The Future of the Google Science Fair and How To Get Involved
The Google Science Fair competition was canceled in 2018 after running for eight years. Google did not provide an official reason for its cancellation, but it was speculated that it was due to declining participation and a shift in focus towards other initiatives such as Google's AI Impact Challenge. Though the Google Science Fair has been canceled Google still offers many opportunities for people to participate. As mentioned the Google AI Impact Challenge. Each year has a different challenge which is an invitation for ideas that tackle a specific problem or support a particular community, whether that is a city, continent, or the entire world. Google looks for nonprofits and social enterprises with ideas that can create change at the pace and scale the world needs today. Google offers a range of other opportunities though they all have a range of age requirements and eligibility with most of them being 18 years and above.
However, there are other popular science and engineering fairs not held by Google such as Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, Youth International Science Fair, Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) and many others tailored to specific regions and countries.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, the Google Science Fair inspired young people all around the world by encouraging a spirit of inquiry, creativity, and science. The competition, which ran for eight years, included outstanding concepts and success stories, ranging from ground-breaking medical technology breakthroughs to creative responses to global problems like microplastic pollution.
The achievements of its participants carry on the Google Science Fair's legacy. Even though the Google Science Fair is over, many other fairs out there allow people to submit ideas that tackle urgent problems. Even though the Google Science Fair is now a thing of the past, its influence lives on, echoing in the thoughts of upcoming inventors and bearing witness to the transformational potential of encouraging scientific inquiry.
Don't let fear or anything hold you back—join a fair! You never know what might happen. Winning isn't everything; just participating can help you gain valuable skills and open up countless opportunities. There are plenty of problems out there waiting to be solved, and you might have the perfect solution. Take a chance, because sometimes the best surprises come from the unexpected.
About Inspirit AI
AI Scholars Live Online is a 10 session (25-hour) program that exposes high school students to fundamental AI concepts and guides them to build a socially impactful project. Taught by our team of graduate students from Stanford, MIT, and more, students receive a personalized learning experience in small groups with a student-teacher ratio of 5:1.
