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One thing I have learned after years of living and working with scientists is that for them the world is truly flat, as Tom Friedman tells us. There are no country boundaries – science connects the world. A physicist in one country knows a network of physicists all around the world. And for these 1500 students, this week has formed the kernel of that network. From this single hub, they will return to their homes and connect all of the young scientists they already know, as well as those they will meet in coming years, at their universities and in their careers. This is truly a transformative experience.
And these young scientists are not simply thinking in academic abstracts. More than 25% of these finalists already have patents or patents pending on their work. Monday morning we hosted a panel of experts in entrepreneurship here: a venture capitalist, the head of Intel’s patent law group, the chair of UC Berkeley’s entrepreneurship program, our own Intel Futurist, and Ben Gulak, a former Intel ISEF participant and now young entrepreneur. More than 150 of the Intel ISEF Finalists attended the session and peppered the panelists with so many questions that we shifted to a ‘speed mentoring’ format to give as many of them as possible a chance to interact directly with these experts. The energy in the room was electric.
As I find each year, I am reassured by what I see here: students from around the world, excited and eager to work together, not simply learning about science, but being scientists. It is our task, we adults, to offer this same opportunity to more students, indeed to all students. To have the chance to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty doing research into a subject which they choose themselves, and which has genuine importance – and therefore interest - to them. That is what it takes to engage them as scientists and engineers for the rest of their lives. For those who choose other paths, it will at least give them an understanding of the importance and value of science which will inform their decisions as citizens and consumers, their choices about their health and energy consumption, about the challenges that face the human race all around the world. We need to change the way we teach science to ensure this kind of understanding and engagement for all students. We owe it to them, and we owe it to ourselves.
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