2021 STEAM Big Award Winner

University of Toronto, St. George

(Photography by Ben Ouyang, 2018-2019 pre-COVID events)

The Science Rendezvous team at the University of Toronto (St. George Campus) embraced the challenge to STEAM Big! in 2021 and went above and beyond to deliver an outstanding and engaging event. Co-Executive Chairs Surath Gomis and Trinh Vo were committed to making this virtual festival bigger and better than ever, incorporating new programming and aiming to engage larger and more diverse audiences. With the help of their strong team, which included 30 of their previous volunteer executive members and over 200 individuals in total, they were able to achieve this goal and reach thousands of virtual attendees!

Retaining and reimagining their festival booth format, the coordinating team hosted a virtual fair called the Science Rendezvous Show, with 40 total presentations hosted by 23 different university departments, student groups and external foundations. Other notable virtual events included the fan-favourite Science Chase and the Sci-Art Gallery. Notably, the Outreach Team also introduced a novel month-long program called SRHacks, where students in grades 6 to 8 could compete in engineering and coding categories. This event was incredibly successful and engaged hundreds of students. Additional programming through the month of SRHacks was offered, including an Innovation Speaker Series and interactive workshops.  The 10 selected finalists were invited to the SRHackoff on July 3, 2021, where they presented their projects on a live Zoom webinar in front of a panel of judges to determine a winner in each category. 

Beyond the virtual festival, this coordinating team ideated and executed the “I Am… A Scientist” video series with the help of many faculty members and graduate students. The series was kicked off with Dr. Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist from the Yale School of Medicine, and followed with interviews and “day-in-the-life” vlogs from faculty and students across various disciplines. The goal of the series was to make scientists more approachable, showcasing their every-day lives and promoting the idea that science is for everyone. The series received an overwhelmingly positive response and has been continued in 2022, with all videos being accessible on YouTube.

Thank you for being true leaders and a part of the Science Rendezvous community. We are looking forward to seeing what you will come up with in 2022!