Thank You for considering to be a Judge.  The high point of the fair experience for most of the students is their judging interviews. 

If you decide to be a judge you will be a category judge, special award judge or a grand award judge.  Understanding who is on the exhibition floor helps everyone work together.

The category judges have expertise in one of the science and engineering categories They can judge in the Junior Division which comprises our Middle School students or the Senior Division which comprises our High School students.  The category judges determine first place through honorable mention in each category.  The projects judged superior in their category are invited to compete at the next level fair on the way to the International Science and Engineering Fair( ISEF) held in Reno this year.  In addition first place category winners are then judged by the grand award judges.  In addition to Science and Engineering Fair ribbons and medals some organizations that can not provide special award judges will use the category judging to award there awards which can include anything from certificates to scholarships. Category judging is considered the primary judging process.

The special award judges each have their own criteria which may be limited by categories or cover a single division or the entire fair.  Some special awards are sponsored by the Science and Engineering Fair but most as sponsored by professional, community, governmental and educational organizations.   Special award judges have a difficult time because they need to work around the category judging and grand award judging.  It is not unusual for special award judging to take as long as the category and grand award judging combined especially if the award covers the entire fair.  After the special awards are decided the winners names needed to be given to the Science and Engineering Fair Awards Ceremony coordinator.  If it is not a Science and Engineering Fair sponsored award the organization sponsoring the award can present the awards or have the presented by the Science and Engineering Fair awards team.  Arrangements need to be made prior to development of the awards ceremony program.

The grand award judges have to decide the best among all the categories in each division. This year we will be presenting a first and second grand award in both the Senior and Junior Division.  Besides, plaques highly prized awards including scholarships have been tied to these awards.  The judges for the grand awards need a broad range of science and engineering experience.  Also since the winners will be competing at the next level fair and hopefully by their grand award judges in preparation to going to ISEF, It is desirable that they have ISEF experience themselves either as a observer or participant.  It is the grand award judges that not only determine the best of the best project but who will do best in the competitions to come.

The Science and Engineering Fair will provide the students with a brief explanation of the judging process. Provide information such as the rules for student conduct and attendance, the estimated number of judging interviews to expect, and any information possible about the levels or tiers of judging taking place. Provide an explanation to judges and students about the different types of judging and any rules for each type of judge. 

The ISEF has ask us to take all steps possible to provide a just and equitable judging process without bias. Develop a judges’ code of conduct and a clearly defined set of criteria that your fair judges must follow. Have procedures in place to eliminate any potential conflict of interest and always have a sufficient number of fair representatives available during judging to handle any problems that may arise.  We attempt to do our best every year.  Your help in this is best way we have to do better at this.  Please do not judge students you have mentored our who you have family ties.  We are a tight community but with seventeen categories and two divisions there is room for everyone to help.