(Slide 1 – UCSF 40th logo) Bonsoir and good evening Mr. Mayor, members of Council, administration and members of the public. My name is Mike O’Neil and I am here tonight on behalf of the United Counties Science Fair and we wish to thank you for inviting us here to introduce you to some very special area students. The four young people that you are about to meet represent our future leaders, researchers, scientists, engineers, and professionals. It was my pleasure to accompany them as our regional fair’s delegate to this year’s Canada Wide Science Fair held in Fredericton, New Brunswick. But first, a little background information. The United Counties Science Fair is a non-profit charitable organization completely run by volunteers. The organizing committee is comprised of teachers, parents and members of our community. The organization’s goals are to encourage students to explore some of the many fields of science and to help students develop creative critical thinking and deductive reasoning skills. This year marks the 40th anniversary of our regional fair. We had approximately 105 grade 6 to 12 students from over 20 area schools present 75 projects to 45 judges. There was also a “Science on the Wall” competition whereby over 200 grade 1 to 5 students from area schools had their science posters placed on the walls of the gymnasium during the science fair event. Over $10,000 in cash, prizes, awards and trips were given out to the winners of the Science Fair competition. The top four students were awarded an all-expense paid trip to the national competition known as the Canada Wide Science Fair, in Fredericton, New Brunswick a few weeks ago. All of the finalists’ transportation costs, meals, accommodations and registration fees were fully paid by the regional science fair organization - thanks to the contributions from our generous donors, sponsors and our fundraising activities. I would at this time ask that the committee members present here tonight please stand to be recognized.

(Slide 2 – CWSF logo) This year marks the 54th anniversary of the Canada Wide Science Fair which brings together 500 students from across Canada, as well as delegations from Mexico and Australia. These 500 students represent the top projects from over 100 regional science fairs.

(Slide 3 – CWSF display booths) To put this into perspective, these 500 finalists represent the top one-tenth of one percent of the over 500,000 students who completed science fair projects from across the country in the past year. At the National level, the prizes, scholarships and trips awarded amount to approximately $1M. The trips included: the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario, the Junior Water Prize competition in Stockholm, Sweden, and the International Summer Science Institute in Rehovot, Israel.

(slide 4 – Cornwall hats and UCSF hoodies) Our thanks to the City for its contribution of the City of Cornwall ball caps for our delegation. It is interesting to note that the City of Cornwall hosted the national fair back in 1985. Canada Wide Science Fair alumni such as the four that you will meet tonight are also eligible to apply to participate as members of the team that Canada sends to the International competition that this year was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Over 1700 students from 75 countries competed for over $4M in awards, and I am proud to say that this year Canada accomplished something that it had never done before – we took the first and second place prizes at that competition. A 17 year old student won the top prize along with $75,000US and a 16 year old student won the second prize along with $50,000US. Patents are pending and one of them has already started a company and received a $100,000US grant to continue her research. You never know where these projects can lead. Who says science is boring! Now, let me introduce you to our four finalists.

(Slide 5 – Michelle’s project) First up is Michelle Journeaux, a grade 10 student from Glengarry District High School with her project entitled: “High Frequency Hearing Loss”. This was Michelle’s first Canada Wide fair and her project focussed on studying at what age we begin to suffer high frequency hearing loss.

(Slide 6 – Gabriel’s project) Next is Gabriel Valin, a grade 9 student from École Secondaire L’Héritage with his project entitled: « Mauvaises herbes….et si c’était la solution? » This was Gabriel’s second Canada Wide Fair. He accompanied me to the fair in Lethbridge Alberta in 2013. His project dealt with the viability of using weeds as an alternative source crop for biofuel production.

(Slide 7 – Sammy & Jeremy’s project) Now we come to the team of Samantha Peets - who prefers to be called Sammy - and Jeremy Mallette, grade 12 students from St. Joe’s Catholic Secondary school and their project entitled: “UPOD: The Sixth Sensor.” This was the first Canada Wide competition for Sammy and Jeremy. Their project dealt with the creation of an assistive device for the visually impaired using multiple ultrasonic sensors and an audio feedback system. They won the Canadian Acoustical Association Award along with $1,000 cash as well as a gold medal in the senior division along with an additional $250 in cash. They also each received a total of $27,000 worth of entrance scholarships from 6 Canadian universities. The United Counties Science Fair will continue to support and encourage our area youth in their scientific endeavours and we hope that everyone in our community who has an interest in science and in the education of our youth will aid us in our pursuits.

(slide 8 – Awards photo of all 4) It gives me great pleasure to present to you our Canada Wide Science Fair finalists and gold medal winners!