So, registration is flying along so well, that we have decided to extend it until March 29th, 2019 so everyone who wishes can get in! We have had teams from 35 countries so far, and every continent is represented in the competition this year. WOW!!! That is such an amazing number of people from wildly different cultures and backgrounds, meaning we are sure to have so many incredibly diverse projects submitted to be judges this year. And because we have two categories this year, we will have an even wider array of teams and backgrounds to showcase as compared to previous years. I cannot wait to see what everyone has working in their heads to help us move Toward A Greener Tomorrow.

One thing we have not provided much information on so far however, is the location. We have said it will be in New York City, but an exact spot has not been announced. I promise we have been working extremely hard on this and are in the final stages of locking up what might just be our most exciting location yet…more to come on that hopefully this week! 

That’s all for now, but since the “slow” portion of the competition is almost over, there will be more updates which means more blog posts so stay tuned!

Ok, so, back when I announced the competition, I alluded that I would make a blog post that goes more in depth on why we  chose the theme of “Toward A Greener Tomorrow”, and so I am writing that here today! The idea for the theme came from the feeling that it is too easy to focus on the negative aspects of our current environmental issues. You here how this animal is going extinct, this resource is tougher to find, we are using too much of this or that. But that is not the whole picture, not even close! If there was no positive news related to the environment, we would be much closer to the apocalyptic wasteland many seem to feel we are reaching. But we are not! There is good news every day if you know where to look, and that is why we have a future. Do we have issues? Yes. Will we find more along the way? Undoubtedly. Are they insurmountable? Not at all! Yet if you do not believe there are better days to come, then your efforts are likely to be less than they would be if surrounded in a field of positivity.

“Toward A Greener Tomorrow” represents that feeling, that hope, that drive to look past the negatives. The Clean Tech Competition is oriented to find a greener solution in our evolving world, and the theme of 2019 is to remind us that things will get better, but only if we believe it to be so. I have no doubt that some of the thousands of young scientist that have entered over the last several years will be influential in our planets greener future. Now, it is your turn to help. I cannot wait to see what you have in store!

The 2019 Spellman HV Clean Tech Competition is officially underway, and I for one could not be more excited about this moment! Our topic for this year is: Toward a Greener Tomorrow, and there are so many reasons behind that, and I will devote a whole other blog post to that in the very near future.  Registration starts Wednesday November 21st at 9am, but we are letting you all here know first. We know it has been a long wait to hear this good news, and we thank you for your patience. We have been working on some exciting new things for this year, including TWO categories! Those categories are: Mitigating the Effects of Climate Change and Resource Preservation, two extremely important focuses of our future. This means twice the finalists, twice the prizes, and twice the fun! Bigger and better than ever you ask? You are correct!

 

 

Ok so to explain these changes, the simple answer is that yes, we have grown in size over the years. What started out as a local competition for Singapore, has grown immensely in the last several years.This last Clean Tech Competition saw over 550 teams from 39 different countries enter. While reading all these submissions, it feels like two things. First, that a lot of great ideas were unable to be recognized because competition was so fierce, and we wanted to give those a voice and a chance. Secondly, the inventions and research submitted was over such a wide range of topics, it felt difficult to accurately judge them all under one group. So this year, we decided we wanted to switch that up, and are happy to announce that means that 20 teams will be recipients of monetary prizes this year, as well as have the ability to travel to meet their peers at our finalist event location (more on that in the coming weeks…) 

So, that is the announcement. I could go on about how excited I am to be fully part of this competition this year, but I am sure you have better things to do that listen to that! If you are not finding this for a couple weeks, no worries, registration goes until March 2019 so you have plenty of time to get your team together. The last few months have been quiet, but now that we are in full swing, you will be hearing plenty more from me!

Your CTC Administrator,

Kevin

 

 

Well, it has certainly been a while since you have heard from me! It has been a busy time in the world here at the Center for Science teaching & Learning. We have had more camp sessions, birthday parties, field trips and lessons than we can truly count, so my mind has been quite distracted lately. But rest assured, Clean Tech 2019 is coming together and we are extremely excited about some of the things we have in store! Now I won’t give anything away just yet, but we have been listening to what 2018 competitors and finalists had to say about the process, and we took them to heart. So look out for some changes they came up with…as well as some we have been working on ourselves with some help from Spellman High Voltage Electronics!

I am sure you are all impatiently waiting to hear next years topic, but that time to announce has not yet come to pass. However I promise that it is coming soon! Details will be posted as we update our website, but i can tell you this…mark your calendars for Wednesday November 21st, 2018 at 12pm EST. You will be able to do something then you have probably been dreaming about for quite some time. I know that is not a lot to go on, but for now it will have to do! But again, all the information you are looking for will be coming soon, I swear!

Wow. It is hard to believe that it is really done. The 2018 competition has come to a close, and was it ever amazing! For those of you who may not have been able to find out yet, here are our top three teams from this year:

1st Place: Team Hydrogen Fuel Cells; Danielle Kelly and Audrey Shine, USA

2nd Place: Team Sustainable Future; Benjamin Liao, USA

3rd Place: Team Eilíse Ireland; Eilíse Ireland, Ireland

 

While these three may have received our top prizes, every single team and member that entered is a winner in my book, CSTL’s, Spellman’s, your team leader’s, and hopefully in the most important one of them all…your own! You all went out of your way and put time and effort into doing something that you love and are passionate about. You did this because you want to help save our world. Because you are enthralled with science. Because you wanted to challenge yourself. Because you found something cool to do with a friend. Because of a thousand different reasons, but in the end they all come back to a passion for STEM, and that is exactly what we want! That is the point of this competition! Not because of some prize money (although that is a nice incentive!). You did it because you wanted to. And that is the most important prize of all, a feeling of motivation and passion.

This year was our biggest year yet, and there are so many people to thank for their amazing help. Our sponsors at Spellman High Voltage Electronics, our host at Stony Brook University, our media and relations team, our various donors, the contestants themselves, their team leaders, their parents, the mentors…the list could go on forever. But I am thankful for each and every one of them because they all played a major role in making this possible.

 

Ok, I think I have rambled enough. I am still riding that euphoric wave from last week it seems! Again, thank you to everyone who participated, from the almost 600 submissions from 39 countries. 2018 was one for the books, and were hoping to make 2019 even bigger and better!!!

First off, I would like to follow up with Frank’s introduction by letting you all know my name is Kevin Sanders and I am your new Administrator! This week has been a whirlwind of fresh information and excited learning as I plunge head first into this new role and adventure for myself. I have been amazed at every turn at the response this competition receives and the vast range on ingenious submissions that have been sent in. There is still so much to be done before the Finalists competition on July 12th, but I am beyond excited to undertake this journey with you all, and am exceptionally excited to meet those of you attending our event at Stony Brook University next month. Everyone has been so helpful in helping me settle in and I am sure the event will be just as amazing as we are all expecting. 

Well, that is all for now, time to get back to work! But do not worry, you will be hearing from me again soon!

Kevin