Invitation to judge at Eskom Expo for Young Scientists, KZN Central Region EXPO 2019

Dear Sir/Madam,

1. The Eskom Expo for Young Scientists (Eskom Expo) is a non-profit organisation which was founded in 1980, operates in 35 regions in all nine provinces in South Africa and is managed by volunteers. Eskom Expo is South Africa's largest and most unique educational fair for school students from grades 4 to 12. It is endorsed by the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Basic Education and Department of Public Enterprises, the Presidency and SACE.
2. The Eskom Expo for Young Scientists affords school students the unique opportunity of showcasing their innovation and ingenuity through projects selected from one of 13 categories, the focus areas being science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM). It creates a platform for growth and serves as a catchment for future scientists, researchers and engineers.
3. This process involves submission of innovative research projects by our ‘young scientists' to judges at school, regional, national and international levels. These projects can be presented as a scientific investigation, social science study, computer science project, engineering project or a mathematics or theoretical type of project.
4. Schools throughout KZN from all districts, will gather at various venues, to compete at the annual regional Expos. At these regional events, selection to represent the province at the national expo, which is also South Africa’s International Science Fair (ISF) held for a week in Jhb, will be up for grabs. Successful finalists will also stand a chance of being selected to represent South Africa at international science fairs the following year.
5. We are inviting judges from both the academic (students and staff) and private sector to judge at the KZN Central Region Expo 2019 to be held as follows:
   
   

REGION	DISTRICTS COVERED	2019 REGIONAL DATES	VENUE	2019 JUDGES TRAINING WORKSHOPS: DATES & VENUE
KZN Central	Umlazi Pinetown Illembe Umgungundlovu	05 August 15:00 to 18:00	Durban Institute of Technology, Fred Crookes Sports Centre, Gate 5, Steve Biko Road	Friday 31 May 18:30 – 20:30	Durban Girls Secondary School In Berea
		06 August 08:00 to 13:00		Saturday 01 June 09:30 - 11:30
Judges Registration: https://forms.gle/NrXfkFgcNiwdvqLs8

6. New judging sheets will be introduced this year. Thus all interested judges have to attend one of the compulsory judges training workshops as indicated above.
7. Kindly complete the online judges’ registration and indicate your attendance at the judges training workshop of your preference, using the following link: https://forms.gle/NrXfkFgcNiwd...
8. All judges will be provided with a certificate for judging.
9. By engaging in this kind of community development, judges can earn valuable CPD points.
10. Judges can select the categories of preference for judging, from the attached category list. More than one category should be indicated as the category allocated to judges will depend on number of projects and number of judges in that category.
11. Letters to the employer requesting time off for judging, can be provided on request.
12. Judges who are willing and available to assist with judging at other regional expos in the province please send an email to nalini@exposcience.co.za indicating which event you are available to judge.
    See below for dates of regional expos in the other regions in KZN:
    
    

KZN REGION	DISTRICTS COVERED	DATE OF REGIONAL EXPO	VENUE FOR REGIONAL EXPO
Northern KZN	UThukela, Amajuba, Umzinyathi, Zululand	26 July 2019	Ladysmith Indoor Sports Centre
KZN North Coast	King Cetshwayo	01 August 2019	UNIZULU – King Bhekuzulu Hall
KZN Far North	UMkhanyakude and Zululand	02 August 2019	Sisizakele Special School, Jozini
Southern KZN	UGu and Harry Gwala	13 August 2019	Umzinto Town Hall

13. Not only do judges from higher educational institutions and practising scientists/engineers, have a wealth of knowledge and expertise which they can share with our young scientists to improve their projects but they can also assist to further inspire these young curious minds to continue pursuing studies in STEM.

Together we can make a greater difference in inspiring the next generation of innovators and scientists.

Kind Regards,

KZN Central Region Expo