National Science Bowl

NREL Mentors Keep It Real For Summer Interns

This summer, workers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are advancing our understanding of hydrogen fuels, carbon nano catalyst technology, the use of indium zinc oxide in thin film solar cells and many other research areas. The results soon will be published in journals and presented at industry conferences. The teams doing this groundbreaking work aren't NREL senior scientists or engineers, but the lab's undergraduate interns.

For 10 weeks every summer, college students from across the county migrate to Golden, Colo., to work side-by-side with top researchers at the only national laboratory solely focused on renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development.

"This is not simulated research," said NREL Education Program Coordinator Linda Lung. "They are part of a research team."

Being part of a research team is an opportunity Natalie Bodington-Rosen is fully aware of as she works on depositing indium zinc oxide onto thin film solar cells. The goal is to make the cells with less indium to reduce costs. "Having all of these resources at your fingertips and not thinking ‘can we do this' but, ‘let's find a way to do it' is a wonderful experience," Bodington-Rosen said.

Nurturing science interests in students from middle school all the way to graduate school is a priority for DOE.

"The summer internship program is our greatest program for workforce development," Lung said. "We are trying to figure out the workforce needs are for DOE and, what NREL can to meet that need."

Education programs DOE-sponsored college students start using hydrogen fuel cell and solar car races. High school students are hired by the National Science Bowl. "So we say, 'hey, would not you like to do an internship?" Lung said. "It's a good fit because we know they are interested in science and we saw this work of education pipeline with students before they become employees of NREL."

The other priority is literacy DOE energy and encourage young people to understand the source of energy that powers their homes so they can make informed decisions when it comes to using it. That is a message that resonates with summer intern Amy Tsang who is researching the manufacturing process for hydrogen fuel cell membranes. "I think it is very important to continue our research and further our technology," she said. "We are going to have to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels because of high prices and climate change. Our world has to change to a different energy strategy and renewables is it.

2009 Rocky Mountain High School Science Bowl set for Feb.7, Jan ...

NEWS FROM WESTERN AREA POWER ADMINISTRATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : Jan. 28, 2009
Contact: Tonya Baggett, 970-461-7505, baggett@wapa.gov

2009 ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGIONAL SCIENCE BOWL SET FOR FEB. 7

LOVELAND, Colo. —Fort Collins’ Poudre High School will begin defending its winning Regional Science Bowl title on Feb. 7. Students from Poudre, along with other high school teams, will test their knowledge in math and science at the Rocky Mountain Regional Science Bowl in Loveland to compete for a chance to attend the National Science Bowl this spring in Washington, D.C.

Science Bowl is a fast-paced, verbal competition where students answer questions at random from the following subject areas: astronomy, biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, as well as earth and general sciences. Teams range from those that practice rigorously for this year’s event to those fine-tuning their skills for next year. Science Bowl is a proven tool that encourages high school students to excel in math and science and to pursue careers in those fields. By raising the visibility of academic achievement in the sciences, the program has been successful in placing these young people on a par with their peers who excel in athletics.

The event featuring 24 teams from 17 schools across Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska will vie for top honors in the annual competition at Willard O. Eddy Hall, Colorado State University, starting at 8:00 a.m. Admission is free. The public is invited to watch the competition and support the teams.

The winning team receives an all-expense paid trip to participate in the National Science Bowl in Washington, DC. This is the 17th year for the Rocky Mountain Regional Science Bowl, sponsored by Western Area Power Administration (Western), Colorado State University, other government agencies and business partners in Colorado.
Participating schools include:

National Science Bowl, April 24-27, 1992 : sponsored by The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) & Cray Research Foundation

Academic Competitions for Gifted Students, A Resource Book for Teachers and Parents

Dilemmas of science teaching, perspectives on problems of practice

United States of America Congressional Record

Congressional Record