About

Students at OCSEF 2019

The Orange County Science and Engineering Fair (OCSEF) is an annual event organized to encourage the youth of our county to learn about science and to consider a career in science or engineering. The OCSEF is open to 6th – 12th grade students attending public or private schools in Orange County.

The Mission of the Orange County Science and Engineering Fair, a non-profit organization, is to foster scientific literacy and critical thinking skills for all students throughout Orange County by providing equal opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, culminating in the Annual Orange County Science and Engineering Fair and the STEAM Showcase. 

Students not only have the opportunity to learn and implement the scientific method and engineering design principles, but also the the social skills of communication and collaboration and the confidence to be successful in the 21st century. 

To achieve our Mission, OCSEF supports teachers with workshops and provides mentoring to enhance their science curriculum and promote local school science and engineering fairs.

The Orange County Science and Engineering Fair (OCSEF) is a nonprofit educational organization that has promoted science and engineering in Orange County since 1955. The educators, scientists, and engineers who volunteer their services are committed to educating, guiding, and motivating students to engage in project-based learning in all fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to be college and career ready in the 21st century.

We recognize the urgent need for our country to produce science-literate citizens and skilled, knowledgeable workers to meet the demands of our high-tech industries. We’ve seen firsthand how effective students can be when challenged to inquire, design and investigate scientific and engineering concepts through experimentation. Participation in science fairs helps students to improve their science skills and literacy while inspiring them to consider careers in science and engineering.

The OCSEF works to support these science students, their teachers, and their families by providing opportunities to experience experimental science. This is accomplished through our OCSEF competition held each year in early Spring with virtual judging.  Students exhibit their work digitally, discuss their discoveries with volunteer judges who are experts in their field, and compete for a variety of monetary and special awards. All projects are celebrated at our in-person awards ceremony where board awards in each category and special awards are announced. Many of the best middle & high school projects are then selected to enter the California Science and Engineering Fair. A group of middle school students are invited to compete in the Thermo Fisher Junior Innovators Challenge, and in some years a select number of high school students are chosen to represent OCSEF at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair.

We also support science projects through outreach activities such as workshops and mentoring for teachers and students. We know that teachers have limited time and resources, so we also work with teachers and parents to help facilitate their own school fairs, classroom competitions, and individual sponsorships of students.  We can even guide you with resources for guiding home schooled students into the annual competition.

We encourage you to explore this website for everything you want to know about the OCSEF…and more. And if you have any questions, please click on Contact Us and we’ll do our best to help.