Middle and high school competitors put their skills in science, technology, engineering and math to the test.
Nearly 600 students from 43 Pennsylvania schools visited campus March 7 as Cal U hosted the Pennsylvania Science Olympiad's Southwest Regional.
Middle school and high school students from 13 different counties used their skills in science, technology, engineering and math to compete in a variety of challenges.
"Looking out and seeing all these excited students and dedicated teachers involved in this exciting initiative is an invigorating reminder as to why we do this," said Dr. Swarndeep Gill, tournament director and associate professor in Cal U's Department of Earth Sciences, during the event's opening remarks in the Convocation Center.
He said Cal U was a proud host with the facilities to host such a large tournament and that so many visiting students interested in science and technology is a great opportunity.
"We focus on making sure this tournament runs well because when students have a great experience at the tournament, they have a positive outlook about Cal U," Gill said.
"Many of the Science Olympiad students have come here more than once and are used to being here, which is obviously a good thing."
Two returning students — Bedford Middle School eighth-graders Josie Shuke and Riley Ruffely — partnered for three different competitions, Anatomy and Physiology, Potions and Poisons, and Wright Stuff.
Neither minded beginning their day with a 4 a.m. wakeup.
"It's exciting and nerve-wracking, but working together helps," Shuke said.
Ruffely was competing for the third time at the Southwest Regional and was looking forward to the Wright Stuff model airplane competition.
"The experience from previous years helps, and we just hope to have some good flight time," she added. "Science is interesting as for a career, and I suppose we'll both just see what happens."
George Kuhne, Shuke and Ruffely's science teacher at Bedford, has brought his students to Cal U and the Science Olympiad for six years.
"With so much emphasis on standardized testing, we tend to cover a lot of curriculum and not get as in-depth as much as we'd like to," Kuhne said. "But these projects really give the kids a chance to do hands-on science and take it from the start to the end.
"It's a very good extracurricular activity."
Sixth-grader Nikhil Gandhi, from Winchester Thurston School in Pittsburgh, Pa., enjoyed designing and building a roller coaster, using spherical vehicles, to travel the track as close as possible to a target time between 20 and 45 seconds.
"I want to be a rocket scientist," he said. "I like these kind of events because they help me think as opposed to just writing things down."
Dr. Brenda Fredette, dean of the Eberly College of Science and Technology, who started at Cal U in January, welcomed students to the competition.
"As a new dean, I find this to be a very inspiring start as I see all of these students that have come out on an early Wednesday morning because of their interest in science," Fredette said.
"I hope you enjoy your experience here, get to know the campus, meet some of our faculty and hopefully by the end of the day fall in love with Cal U as I did."
Based on a percentage of teams registered at regional sites, the highest scoring middle school and high school teams from the region qualified for the state competition on April 28 at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa. The National Science Olympiad will be May 18-19 at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.