Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM

Syracuse, SUNY ESF Host Science Exploration Day for Regional Youth

Thursday, April 9, 2015, By Rob Enslin
Share
STEM

More than a hundred middle and high school students, along with their parents and teachers, recently descended on the University for a daylong science adventure.

Called STEM Day on the Hill, the event was part of a two-day festival known as the Dr. Nelson Ying Tri Region Science and Engineering Fair (Ying TRSEF), featuring three separate competitions. Winners of the science fair portion will advance to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, the world’s leading pre-collegiate science competition, in May.

•SUNY-ESF professor Gary Scott gives a demo-lecture on paper engineering during STEM Day on the Hill.

• SUNY ESF professor Gary Scott gives a demonstration and lecture on paper engineering during STEM Day on the Hill.

While STEM Day on the Hill served students from the North Country, Southern Tier and Western New York, Ying TRSEF as a whole catered to those from 25 Upstate counties. Ying TRSEF is named for the internationally renowned Chinese-American philanthropist who, in this instance, personally matches all donations and grants of up to $15,000.

Gary Bonomo G’10, a chemistry lab supervisor and instructor in the College of Arts and Sciences, helped organize STEM Day on the Hill. “It’s important for students to explore their talents and to challenge their minds in the STEM fields,” he says, referring to science, technology, engineering and mathematics. “STEM Day on the Hill provides rich experiential learning that also is a lot of fun.”

Bonomo credits much of STEM Day’s success to his colleagues in the Department of Chemistry, the College of Engineering and Computer Science and Information Technology & Services at Syracuse; and in the departments of Environmental and Forest Biology and Paper and Bioprocess Engineering at SUNY ESF.

Adds Ying TRSEF Director Mary Eileen Wood G’73: “Such student experiences can ignite a passion that launches a career. Role models and mentors alike must pass the torch of STEM knowledge to future scientists and engineers.”

Faculty, staff and students from both Syracuse and SUNY ESF joined volunteers from area companies to oversee various events and activities. Topics included electrical engineering, protein analysis, water hardness titration, wildlife and botanicals, scientific glassblowing, paper science and anti-hacking.

The program also featured live Skype conversations with Tony Jimenez, founder, president and CEO of MicroTech, a service-disabled veteran-owned business; and Lynn Pasquerella, president of Mount Holyoke College, as well as a distinguished philosopher and ethicist.

“Our goal is to encourage students to learn beyond the classroom,” Bonomo adds. “We’re helping develop the next generation of scientists and engineers—a rewarding experience, indeed.”

  • Author

Rob Enslin

  • Recent
  • Tiffany Xu Named Harry der Boghosian Fellow for 2025-26
    Friday, June 20, 2025, By Julie Sharkey
  • Registration Open for Esports Campus Takeover Hosted by University and Gen.G
    Thursday, June 19, 2025, By Matt Michael
  • 2 Whitman Students Earn Prestigious AWESOME Scholarship
    Tuesday, June 17, 2025, By News Staff
  • WiSE Hosts the 2025 Norma Slepecky Memorial Lecture and Undergraduate Research Prize Award Ceremony
    Friday, June 13, 2025, By News Staff
  • Inaugural Meredith Professor Faculty Fellows Announced
    Friday, June 13, 2025, By Wendy S. Loughlin

More In STEM

WiSE Hosts the 2025 Norma Slepecky Memorial Lecture and Undergraduate Research Prize Award Ceremony

This spring, Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) held its annual Norma Slepecky Memorial Lecture and Award Ceremony. WiSE was honored to host distinguished guest speaker Joan-Emma Shea, who presented “Self-Assembly of the Tau Protein: Computational Insights Into Neurodegeneration.” Shea…

Endowed Professorship Recognizes Impact of a Professor, Mentor and Advisor

Bao-Ding “Bob” Cheng’s journey to Syracuse University in pursuit of graduate education in the 1960s was long and arduous. He didn’t have the means for air travel, so he voyaged more than 5,000 nautical miles by boat from his home…

Forecasting the Future With Fossils

One of the most critical issues facing the scientific world, no less the future of humanity, is climate change. Unlocking information to help understand and mitigate the impact of a warming planet is a complex puzzle that requires interdisciplinary input…

ECS Professor Pankaj K. Jha Receives NSF Grant to Develop Quantum Technology

Detecting single photons—the smallest unit of light—is crucial for advanced quantum technologies such as optical quantum computing, communication and ultra-sensitive imaging. Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) are the most efficient means of detecting single photons and these detectors can count…

Rock Record Illuminates Oxygen History

Several key moments in Earth’s history help us humans answer the question, “How did we get here?” These moments also shed light on the question, “Where are we going?,” offering scientists deeper insight into how organisms adapt to physical and…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.