President
Barack Obama today called himself 'an underachiever' as he looked at
young students' inventions and projects at the annual White House
Science Fair.
Among
the designs was a catapult-armed mannequin who shot three-point
baskets, an 18-year-old cancer researcher and second-grade Girl Scouts
from Oklahoma with a Lego 'flood-proof' bridge.
'I'm
such an underachiever,' Obama joked after chatting with Eric Chen, a
Harvard-bound high school senior from San Diego, California.
The
student won grand prizes at the 2013 Google Science Fair and the
Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology for identifying new
drug candidates for the treatment of influenza.
Impressed: Obama poses with the inventor of a
sandless sandbag, Peyton Robertson from Florida, as he hosts the 2014
White House Science Fair. He joked that people should start buying stock
in Peyton
In awe: Obama gasps as he looks at the sandless sandbag next to its inventor Peyton Robertson
Learning: Obama looks at a remotely operated
vehicle to help firefighters with ice search and rescue calls alongside
it inventors, Olivia Van Amsterdam and Katelyn Sweeney
Concentration: Standing beside Olivia (left) and Katelyn, Obama gives the invention a whirl
Learning: Obama looks at a remotely operated
vehicle to help firefighters with ice search and rescue calls alongside
it inventors, Olivia Van Amsterdam and Katelyn SweeneyConcentration: Standing beside Olivia (left) and Katelyn, Obama gives the invention a whirl
It's an
annual self-deprecating routine for the Harvard trained lawyer and 43rd
president of the United States, who happily recounts his personal
challenges in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
'One
year I accidentally killed some plants that were part of my
experiment,' he told Tuesday's White House Science Fair audience.
'Another time a bunch of mice escaped in my grandmother's apartment.
These experiments did not take me straight to the White House.'
This
year, Obama drew special attention to the science and engineering
achievements of girls and young women, noting that men outnumber women
studying and working in engineering and computer science.
'Half our team we're not even putting on the field,' he said. 'We've got to change those numbers.'
Obama announced a new $35 million Education Department competition to train the best math and science teachers.
Checking out their work: Obama looks over the 'flood proof' bridge design by girl scouts from Tulsa, Oklahoma
Big plans: The girls chat to the president about their Lego bridge on display in the State Dining Room
Smart: Next, he tests out concussion cushion
football helmet with Maria Hanes, who won the Naval Science Award for
her invention. She aspires to be the first female collegiate head
football coach
Test run: Deidre Carrillo won the Electrathon and NCWIT Aspiration in Computing for her electric car
He
also announced and expansion of AmeriCorps to help teach science and
math to 18,000 low-income students this summer, and national science and
math mentoring projects in Chicago; Philadelphia; San Francisco;
Allentown, Pennsylvania; Indianapolis; the Research Triangle Park in
North Carolina; and Wichita, Kansas.
He
noted that he often greets champion athletes at the White House, most
recently the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. But he said
accomplished students deserve such honors, too.
'As
a society, we have to celebrate outstanding work by young people in
science at least as much as we do Super Bowl winners because super-star
biologists and engineers and rocket scientists and robot builders, they
don't always get the attention that they deserve, but they're what's
going to transform our society,' he said.
Serious stuff: Obama, a famed basketball fan,
catches a ball from the 'Basketball Catapult' with one of its inventors,
Brooke Bohn. The catapult-armed mannequin shoots three-point baskets
Fair play: At the science fair, Obama was
celebrating the student winners of a broad range of science, technology,
engineering and math (STEM) competitions from across the country
Having fun: Nicolas Badila of Jonesboro, Georgia, tells Obama how to play STEMville, a STEM video game
Intelligent: Elena Simon, an 18-year-old cancer
sufferer, helped discover a gene flaw that could play a role in how the
tumour strikes
Among
Tuesday's displays were a 'concussion cushion' designed by a 19-year-old
Maria Hanes of Santa Cruz, California, who aspires to be the first
female collegiate head football coach.
Two Massachusetts high school students, Olivia Van Amsterdam and Katelyn Sweeney, exhibited an ice rescue robot.
'So
the idea would be I've fallen through the ice and sadly I probably
didn't make it, but, you know, Michelle still wants to find me,' Obama
said, seeking to understand the work of the device.
And
then there was Peyton Robertson, a 12-year-old from Ft. Lauderdale,
Florida, who wowed Obama with two inventions - 'sandless' flood
retention sandbags and retractable bicycle wheels.
'If you can buy stock in Peyton,' Obama chuckled later, 'you should do so now.'
Proud: Speaking at the White House, Obama said that the country needed to start celebrating its scientists
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