Thank you for your interest in becoming a judge for the Orange County Science & Engineering Fair!
2025 OCSEF Virtual Judging Program – Wednesday, March 12, 2025 (1:15 pm to 6:00 pm, PST)
The Orange County Science & Engineering Fair (OCSEF) is an annual event organized to encourage Orange County students in grades 6-12 to experience STEM by conducting a project and to consider a career in science, math, computer science, or engineering. Judges evaluate projects and interview students to determine which projects merit receiving awards in their category. Each year several hundred students present projects at the Fair, and judging is the culmination of their hard work. The student interviews are the highlight of the Fair. It is an opportunity for students to showcase their work to the judges and for the judges to create a positive and welcoming experience for the students. Our goal is to make the Fair a memorable experience for the 6th – 12th grade students who participate and, hopefully, provide a spark to pursue more education and careers in one of the STEM fields.
Judging Application
To become a Board Category Award Judge for the 2025 Fair, please click on the link below and complete the application to be added to our database.
OCSEF Judges – 2025 Application
Please continue reading for a full description of the current OCSEF Judging Program.
Requirements: Scientists, engineers, educators, whether currently working or retired, who are interested in encouraging the young people of Orange County to consider a career in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM). Minimum requirements are a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field or five years working experience in a STEM field.
Judging the Virtual Fair – Timeline and Responsibilities
The 2025 Fair will be conducted virtually through our online Survey Monkey platform (with project information) and Zoom interviews. Students will upload a slide deck, video, and lab notebook images that describe key elements of their project. Judges will be placed on a judging team that is assigned to no more than 12 projects in their category. Prior to the interviews, judges will review all projects online, at their convenience. Then the judging team will conduct student interviews together as a panel. Judges need to participate in all student interviews for their assigned projects.
Timeline
Wednesday, March 5, 2025 – Online portal opens for Judges to review projects in their category.
Monday, March 10, 2025 (6pm PDT) – Online portal closes.
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 (1:15pm to 6pm) – Judge interviews for Board Category Awards (Zoom)
– 1:15pm Log into Zoom session
– 1:30pm Orientation/Meet Your Judging Team
– 2:00pm Student Interviews Begin
– 5:15pm Award Deliberations Begin
Sunday, March 23, 2025 – Awards Ceremony at Chapman University. Judges are welcome to participate.
Board Category Award Judging Teams
Judges work in a team with others. First-time Judges will team with more experienced Judges. Each Judge individually evaluates projects in their category and participates as part of a panel in student interviews. After interviews are completed, Judges convene as a team to deliberate and decide which projects merit receiving awards in their category.
Each team is led by a Judging Captain who coordinates the activities of the Judges assigned to their category. This includes reviewing the judging objectives and policies for evaluating projects, leading the deliberations on awards at the end of the day and reporting the awards results to the Director of Judging.
Board Category Awards
All student projects entered in the Fair are evaluated for OCSEF Board Category Awards in one of twenty project categories in either the Junior Division (Grades 6-8) or Senior Division (Grades 9-12).
Judging Application
To become a Board Category Award Judge for the 2025 Fair, please click on the link below and complete the application to be added to our database.
OCSEF Judges – 2025 Application
The OCSEF Board of Directors thank you for your interest and your participation.
Past OCSEF judges say:
“Thank you very much for allowing me to participate in this event as a judge. I had a great time reading the abstracts and was thrilled to see the projects as well as speak to the students. I would definitely be interested in joining you next year so do keep me in mind.”
“I thank you for a wonderful day! I had a great time meeting and working with all of my fellow judges.”
“I am greatly encouraged to see such enthusiasm for science and engineering with these youngsters. They are our future, the best and the brightest. I will indeed be a part of the next cycle as a judge.”