COSTA MESA : Top Science Fair Exhibits on Display

When science teacher Robert House joined the Newport-Harbor High School faculty in 1955, the space race had just begun and American research efforts were rapidly increasing. The demand for scientists had never been so great.

So House teamed up with two other teachers to organize the first Orange County Science and Engineering Fair in 1956, hoping awards and accolades would encourage budding young scientists to enter the field as a career.

Since then, hundreds of elementary and high school students have participated in the annual event, and, according to House, many are now active in scientific research.

This week, 400 finalists from individual school competitions entered the fair and displayed their exhibits at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. Judges paced among the exhibits, viewing experiments that posed questions from “Where are Fibonacci Found?” to “Are Cats Right or Left Pawed?”

At an awards ceremony Thursday night, House presented 195 awards to winners in 13 fields.

“It’s fun and rewarding,” he said, adding that student interest in the event goes in cycles.

But 17-year-old Felix Hamilton began working on his science project almost a year ago. He used a computer to convert algorithms in the human cortex into fugues and Gregorian chants. The project won first place in the computer science senior division, and the Rensselaer University Alumni Assn. of Orange County honored Hamilton with a special prize for intellectual risk.

Hamilton, a junior at University High in Irvine, isn’t sure yet which field of science he will specialize in.

Michelle Seemann, a 16-year-old junior at Laguna Hills High, received five awards for her project on converting kinetic energy in ocean waves to electricity.

Exhibits are on display today in Building 10 at the Orange County Fairgrounds from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.