LAST CALL FOR ENTRIES FOR SCIENCE MUSEUM’S ANNUAL ENGINEERING COMPETITION

Entry deadline approaching and nearly $5,000 in cash prizes available to students!

(West Palm Beach) – The South Florida Science Museum’s 27^th Annual

 Drop It, Build It, Fly It, Launch It, Thrill It Engineering Competition will be held on Saturday, March 9, 2013.  Students from all over will be competing for nearly $5,000 in prize money.  Once again, the competition is open to elementary, middle and high school students and the deadline to register is March 1, 2013. Contest entry is free to each registrant and one caregiver, and contestants receive a free lunch for the day! The community is invited to watch the competition, which runs from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. with discounted Museum admission prices.

The contest celebrates engineering ingenuity with entrants showing off their creative skills through five different design contests.  Competitors will see if they have a good egg or Humpty Dumpty after their egg container takes a three-story drop from a cherry picker in the Drop It competition; or if their bottle rocket will blast off or fizzle out during the Launch It competition.  Bridges will be built, aerodynamic paper airplanes will be flying and roller coasters will operate as students compete for prize money, which will be awarded to the first through fourth place winners in each category.  The competition will be judged by the Florida Engineering Society.

“With over 100 teams actively participating in five science categories, this Museum is a beehive of activity on contest day,” said Lew Crampton, Museum CEO. “We’re very pleased with our 27-year partnership with the Florida Engineering Society and with the excellent support we have received from many of our long time sponsors. Our mission is to open every mind to science and, over the many years of this competition, we have seen lots of our winners move on to successful careers in engineering, science and math.”

The engineering competition is in partnership with the Florida Engineering Society.  Due to their support, and the support of generous sponsors, students will have the opportunity to take home nearly $5,000 in prize money.  Title sponsors include Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Kayne Partners Fund and PNC Bank.  The event is presented by Alvin I. Brown and Peggy S. Brown Charitable Foundation. 

To register, and for competition rules and regulations, please visit www.sfsm.org.  Contest entry and lunch are free to each contestant. In addition, one caregiver per registration will receive free admission to the Museum for the day.  Museum admission will be reduced for visitors that day to $6 for adults and $4 for children.

Founded in 1961, the South Florida Science Museum is currently in

 the process of an expansion anticipated to be complete June 2013, and is open during construction.  Featuring fun and educational programming for all ages, the non-profit Museum is dedicated to exciting curiosity and furthering the understanding and appreciation of science and technology. The Museum features more than 50 hands-on exhibits, including the recently installed Science on a Sphere.  Science on a Sphere is 200 lb. interactive globe with the ability to display historical and real-time planetary data.  Additionally, the Museum has a digital planetarium, fresh and saltwater aquariums, as well as natural history exhibitions. Each year the Museum welcomes more than 125,000 visitors and reaches more than 45,000 students through workshops at the Museum and outreach programs to local schools.

For more information or to register for the Drop It, Build It, Fly It, Launch It, Thrill It Engineering Competition, contact the South Florida Science Museum at 561-370-7723 or visit www.sfsm.org.