Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, is sponsoring a national competition for students with hearing loss who are in grades 6 through 12.

The RIT National Science Fair for deaf and hard-of-hearing students allows entrants to compete individually or as a two- or three-person team for cash prizes of up to $500.

To qualify, students must submit an entry form and a 250-word science project summary. Judges will choose finalists in both middle school and high school divisions who will be invited to attend the Science Fair from March 26 to 28, 2010 at RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf, to display their project and compete for first, second or third place in each division.

In the 2009 competition, nearly 50 contestants from Arizona, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin brought their exhibits to NTID. Winning topics included Global Warming, Signing and Driving, Effect from Car Exhaust, and How the Brain Registers and Reacts with Age. Click here to view the complete lists of winners and their projects.

For an entry form, competition rules, acceptance criteria, and a schedule of activities at the science fair, visit www.rit.edu/NTID/ScienceFairNR.

The deadline to submit project summaries is January 15, 2010.

RIT offers computing, engineering, imaging technology, and fine and applied arts programs, and provides support services for students with hearing loss. RIT is home to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, where more than 1,300 students with hearing loss from around the world study, live, and socialize with more than 15,000 hearing students on RIT’s campus.

[Source: NTID]