My Intel ISEF experience

I was thinking about ISEF and wished to shae my experience with everyone else. Here it is:

Going on a trip to ISEF was one of the most memorable experiences in my life.

I traveled with one other observer and around ten presenters. When we boarded the plane over to Indianapolis, I knew nothing about them. By the end of my adventure, I ended up knowing all of them very well. It was a great way to make friends.

I was in a split off group from our main traveling party. Our group consisted of Thomas, Frank, Victor, George, Stephanie, Adeline, Anjaney, Sunil, and me. Sunil and I were observers. The rest were actual competitors. Thomas had a project on self-recharging prosthetics, Frank, Victor, and George did Paladin: Symmetric block cipher, both Adeline and Stephanie worked in Biological sciences, and Anjaney worked on orinithopters.

The city of Indianapolis had much to offer. I remember the Indianapolis Zoo, where Anjaney decided to argue with me, calling a kangaroo a bobcat. All I said was “Look, kangaroo” in my Obviousman way, and to everyones amazement, he argued and said “No, thats a bobcat.”

The social pin exchange was amazing. Anjaney and I moved around, trading pins with Yankee efficiency, and ended up with a collection of pins from all over the world. Funny enough, one of New Mexico's members mistakenly (or not) gave Anjaney an entire bag of New Mexico pins. It was pretty funny to see him moving around trying to trade off all these pins while everyone else relaxed.

Opening ceremony of the Intel ISEF was impressive. The noises, lights, and feeling was ecstatic. Drummers, dancers, musicians, and artists collaborated to put on an amazing show. The enormous video projector allowed us to see different angles of what was in front, and we even got the privilege to be in the front rows.

Throughout the week leading up to the presentations, there was an open net lounge, for web browsing, which let me keep up on school assignments, shop talks on improving your presentation, and trips to various universities and schools. I toured Rose-Hulman, Indiana University, and Sony DADC disk manufacturing facility.

The night before presentations started, I ended up hanging around Frank, Victor, and George. They gave their presentation, and I gave them feedback. Eventually, most of our group ended up in their room, everyone contributing input to making their presentation better. Funny enough, Frank, Victor, and George won first place in their division.

Also, my entire traveling party got together, and we went to restaurants and go-karting.

All in all, ISEF was a great experience. I hope to go back there next time, and I will have much more extensive research to go with me. I loved this experience, and I want to compete their sometime.