This past weekend, Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steven Winberg spoke to high school and middle school students competing at the West Virginia Regional Science Bowl (WVSB). This year’s competition tool place at West Virginia University’s (WVU) Mountainlair student union, located in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Representing the Office of Fossil Energy, Assistant Secretary Winberg gave remarks on Saturday to the participating students. Assistant Secretary Winberg spoke about the importance of young people participating in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), particularly as the Department of Energy (DOE) looks to develop its next generation of thinkers, scientists, and engineers. He then gave the introduction for the event’s lead speaker, U.S. Congressman David McKinley—who, as Assistant Secretary Winberg pointed out to the students, is one of two Professional Engineers currently serving in Congress.

Co-sponsored by DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory and WVU, the annual tournament invites middle- and high-school students to compete in a math and science scholastic bowl. This year, the WVSB celebrated its 27th year of bringing students together from across West Virginia to celebrate their knowledge in STEM.

Divided into teams by school, the students answer rounds of questions on a variety of STEM subjects, including physics, energy, math, and chemistry. On Friday, February 9, 21 middle school teams had their smarts tested in a series of round-robin and double-elimination sequences; on Saturday, February 10, 23 high school teams had their chance to compete in a similarly formatted competition. 

Winners of this past weekend’s WVSB will advance to the Department of Energy’s National Science Bowl® held in Washington, D.C., this April.  Created in 1991, the National Science Bowl encourages students nationwide to participate in STEM and to pursue careers in these fields.