After a long day of presenting to judges at the convention center yesterday, today we woke up early to get breakfast and prepare for the upcoming public presentation. Middle school and high school students were welcomed to the center to view and ask questions about the finalists’ projects. Children were awe-inspired by the many projects on display, and listened to the finalists with rapt attention. It was a hopeful feeling knowing that some of these adolescents aspire to compete at Intel ISEF at some point. Afterwards, we headed back to the DoubleTree to get dressed for the Special Awards ceremony and dinner at a restaurant by the Monongahela River.
The dinner was absolutely amazing, including a lobster tail and king crab dish. To finish off this delicious feast, we were served elegant deserts that included ice cream and chocolate cake. Before we left, William Yin gave us a short demo of his amazing piano skills as he sat down at the piano in the lobby of the restaurant and began to play.
Lastly, the award ceremony was full of finalists and officials, anxious to see who would win a special award. One by one, institutions that awarded finalists went in alphabetical order, with the crowd roaring with applause as each name was called. While only 300 special awards were distributed among the 1700 finalists, there is still the Grand Awards Ceremony waiting for us tomorrow morning.
