Questions Engineering Science Fair Projects

The Energy Lab allows you to experiment with energy conservation such as biomass, geothermal, hydorelectric, solar and wind. Ages 8 and up.

The Snap-Micro™ Controller Trainer is a way to learn about how micro-controllers are used. The easy to follow instructions guides you through the programming of basic commands by using flow charts to operate the micro-controller. Ages 12 and up.

What is the difference between science fair projects and engineering based science fair projects?

Science vs. Engineering

So what’s the difference between a scientists and an engineer? I’d say application. The basic objective of a scientist is to discover the composition and behavior of the physical world; that is, science is the study of the natural world. The basic objective of an engineer is to use scientific principles and methods to produce useful devices and services that serve mankind.

For example, the scientist Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) discovered that a mold he named Penicillium notatum killed some bacteria. Fleming was able to extract the substance produced by the mold that killed the bacteria. He called this powerful microbe killer penicillin. Almost ten years later two scientists developed penicillin into a useful medicine. While this was a great advancement in science it took engineers to devise methods for its mass production.

Although engineering and science are two separate fields of study, in practice the work of real-world scientists and real-world engineers overlaps to some degree. For example, scientists use engineering ideas when they design instruments for experiments, and engineers use scientific experiments when they test the laws of nature in order to develop new things or processes.

What Is the Difference Between Science Fair Projects vs. Engineering Fair Projects?

Some projects are clearly scientific, such as one testing the effects of fertilizer on plant growth. But a plant project in which a special watering system has been designed would be an engineering project.

What is the difference between engineering fair projects and invention fair projects?

Engineer vs. Inventor

What’s the difference between an engineer and an inventor? Sometimes there is no difference. Since the objective of engineering is to produce useful devices and services to serve mankind, if an invention does this, then it can be said that the inventor is an engineer. Other times the inventor may create something new but has not specific use for it. Silly Putty is a prime example. James Wright, a scientist working for General electric was looking for an inexpensive substitute for rubber. Instead, Wright accidentally invented a material that would stretch and bounce but was not useful as a rubber substitute or anything else that he knew of. Wright sold the rights of the “stuff” to Peter Hodgson, a toy store owner who packaged it in plastic eggs and called it Silly Putty. Was Wright a scientists or an inventor? I’d say both. What about Peter Hodgson? He was not a trained engineer, yet he found a purpose for what seemed to be a useless substance. He even devised a way to package it. Hodges demonstrated the skills of a product development engineer. Today, Silly Putty is mass produced and sold all over the world. Many different kinds of engineers are involved with what started as what was thought to be a useless invention.

Engineering Fair Project vs. Invention Fair Project

An invention is a device, method, product, process, or technique that did not previously exist. Unless you duplicate another person’s work, an engineering project will be an invention. But an invention will not always be an engineering project. For example, James Wright invented Silly Putty but he saw no use for it. Wright was in inventor, but not an engineer. Peter Hodgson did not invent Silly Putty, but he did invent a method for packaging it as a toy. Hodgson could be called an inventor as well as an engineer.

Learn about the scientific method and engineering projects by reading the next article 7th Grade Science Fair Engineering Projects.