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MiSTEM changes Science and Engineering Fair plans

HOUGHTON — The 2020 Western Upper Peninsula Science & Engineering Fair that was scheduled for March 18, will be transitioned to an online platform to ensure that students may still have a high-quality experience, while maintaining safety. The announcement came in an email from Emily Gochis, the Director of the Western Upper Peninsula Michigan Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (MiSTEM) Network and project manager of the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative.

The Science & Engineering Fair was scheduled to take place in the Memorial Union Building Ballroom of Michigan Technological University.

“As you may be aware, Michigan Tech implemented a pandemic preparedness plan yesterday (Wednesday) that includes the suspension of face-to-face instruction and the reevaluation of all large gathering in an effort to minimize potential exposure to and spread of the COVID-19 virus,” Gochis stated in her email. ” For this reason the STEM festival will be canceled completely.”

Gochis stated that the U.P. MiSTEM Network has working closely with the school districts and MTU throughout this rapidly evolving situation. While there is no known health threat in our community or the U.P., the network wants to maintain a level of safety.

The 2020 Western UP Science & Engineering Fair and STEM Festival has been a collaborative effort of the Western U.P. MiSTEM Network, Michigan Tech Center for Science and Educational Outreach, Michigan Tech Chapter of Omega Chi Epsilon Chemical Engineering Honor Society and the Carnegie Museum.

“However, it remains our intention to allow students who are already registered and are interested in participating the option to use digital media (e.g. video, photos) to submit online by Wednesday, March 18th at 6 p.m.,” she stated. “Judges will follow the same process as the face-to-face fair to score the projects.”

Further details on the logistics for this process will be provided by Monday morning, the email states.

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