DuPont announced the call for entries to the DuPont Challenge 2010 Science Essay Competition. Now in its 24th year, the DuPont Challenge aims to inspire students to excel in scientific writing.
"Technical competency is imperative in a society in which success depends on the ever-increasing use of science and technology in daily life,” says DuPont senior vice president and chief science & technology officer Uma Chowdhry. “Through the DuPont Challenge, the company hopes to motivate students to develop skills and gain confidence in communicating technical ideas.”
The DuPont Challenge gives students (grades 7-12) the opportunity to write a 700–1,000-word essay discussing a scientific discovery, theory, event, or technological application that has captured their interest. All entries must be received by midnight Jan. 31, 2010. The DuPont Challenge attracts more than 10,000 entries annually.
In 2009, the first-place Senior Division winner wrote about an African beetle in the Namib Desert whose ability to capture water droplets on its back from air moisture could help solve a major world problem: a looming shortage of fresh water. In the Junior Division, the top winner explained how wasps and bees possess such a powerful sense of smell that they could potentially be trained to track down the peculiar scents of TNT bombs, certain drugs, landmines and even cancer.
For more information, visit: thechallenge.dupont.com.
The DuPont competition is sponsored by the DuPont Center for Collaborative Research & Education in cooperation with A+ Media, NASA, Kennedy Space Center, The Walt Disney World Resort, and the National Science Teachers Association.
DuPont is a CP 50 company. To view the DuPont profile, visit: http://www.chemicalprocessing.com/cp50/2008/dupont.html