Click the image above to see a slideshow of 2024 participants.
Every year talented students from fifth to 12th grade present impressive projects at NAISEF (the National American Indian Science and Engineering Fair). A partnership between AISES and Oklahoma State University, NAISEF is the only event of its kind created expressly to support Indigenous participants.
NAISEF is a Society for Science and the Public (SSP) affiliated science fair and is part of the larger SSP fair network. Unlike other SSP-affiliated fairs, NAISEF is both an in-person and virtual fair. NAISEF also abides by the regulations of the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) as well as standards established by SSP and AISES.
In addition to the experience of preparing and presenting their projects, while at NAISEF participants have a chance to tour the Endeavor Lab of OSU’s College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology, where the fair is held. This state-of-the-art facility is designed to give undergraduate students opportunities for interdisciplinary, hands-on learning. NAISEF participants can also check out the high-tech OSU Esports Arena, and they have ample chances to connect with mentors and each other as well as to network at the college fair and participate in STEM activities.
AISES first offered Indigenous students the opportunity to compete in NAISEF in 1988. Since then, the fair has engaged the interest of many students in a range of STEM disciplines while reaching ever larger audiences.
The career fair attracted students, parents, and advisors, who enthusiastically explored interactive exhibits encompassing entomology, robotics, paleontology, and more presented by talented scientists and engineers.
NAISEF participants compete for both monetary prizes and specialty awards. All students compete for the division awards, but criteria for the specialty awards vary. AISES presents prizes to Senior (9th–12th grade) and Junior (5th–8th grade) Division winners as well as travel and registration stipends for two Senior Division Grand Award winners (one in science and one in engineering) and their sponsors to attend the International Science and Engineering Fair, International Science and Engineering Fair, more appropriately named the “Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair." At ISEF the NAISEF winners have an opportunity not only to present their project to a wider audience but also to meet other winners of regional fairs from around the world. The two 2024 Grand Prize winners are 11th graders Jessica Castro for her project Renewable Energy Using Peltier Tiles and Haylei Redhouse for Investigating Contaminants of Uranium and Heavy Metal and Metalloid Poisoning on the Navajo Nation.
Attendees at the NAISEF event were treated to a captivating presentation by Alexander Ridley and William Oswald on forensic dye analysis.
AISES first offered Indigenous students the opportunity to compete in NAISEF in 1988. Since then, the fair has engaged the interest of many students in a range of STEM disciplines while reaching ever larger audiences. In 2014, the NAISEF reach expanded further when it became a hybrid event, enabling remote students to participate. OSU began hosting NAISEF in 2019, and it remains both an in-person and hybrid event attracting participants from across the U.S. — including in-person participation from Hawaii — and Canada. This year’s NAISEF gave 108 participants a chance to shine,
A distinguishing feature of NAISEF is that many of the projects are culturally relevant. One in the 2024 fair is a chemistry project Forensic Dye Analysis: Unraveling the Authenticity of the Navajo Textile Fragment focused on Navajo weaving. In an age of ersatz rugs appearing on the market, 10th graders William Oswald and Alexander Ridley examined ways to determine the authenticity of Navajo weavings by examining the chemistry of the dyes used. Their project took home the Cultural Specialty Award presented by the Oklahoma AISES Professional Chapter.
The AISES staff demonstrated their dedication by going above and beyond to make the Region 4 and NAISEF events truly unforgettable for everyone involved.
