Special Awards | Science and Engineering Fair of Houston (SEFH)

General Information

Each year more than 50 professional organizations, representing government, industry and education across a wide variety of scientific disciplines, affiliate with SEFH as Special Award Sponsors to provide awards from their respective organizations to the nearly 1000 students attending SEFH.

Special Award Agency (SAA) recruits their own judges to choose the winners of their awards. Please note that a judge cannot serve as both a special award judge and a grand award judge.

We recommend that each Special Award Organization provide a minimum of 3 judges, although the number of judges per organization varies with the scope of the awards to be given and the number of Finalists to be interviewed. Coordinators of Special Awards should keep in mind that judging at SEFH takes place over a relatively short period and a sufficient number of judges will make selecting winners a less arduous task.

Special Award Judges receive criteria and coordination instruction through the organization they are representing and its designated judging team leader. This team leader is responsible for establishing the final assignments of their judges.

New for 2020

SEFH 2020 will be held at the George R. Brown Convention Center – Hall E on Saturday, February 15, 2020. George R. Brown Parking & Directions

Special Award Judging will take place from 1:15 – 4:15 PM. Judges should plan to arrive by 11:30. Lunch will be provided. SEFH 2020 Special Award Agency Schedule

SA Judging Procedure

Judging Assignments

The sponsoring organization, through its designated judging leader, is responsible for establishing final assignments of their judges. SEFH Abstract Printout is the initial source of topic and titles.

Judging Record Folder

On Saturday, starting at 11:30 AM, the Team Leader will be able pick up their Judging Record Envelope from the Special Award Check in table. This envelope contains name badges, lanyards, scoring sheets and a reporting sheet to provide final certification of judging results for all awards. The Special Awards Leader of each judging group is responsible for the folder. To be included in the Award Ceremony your results must be submitted to the Check in table by 4:30 p.m.

Final Certification of results is not official until the Leader has:

Returned the Judging Record Folder and its certification sheet to the check in table;
Reviewed computer-generated documents to confirm proper inclusion of each award winner; and
Signed and returned the printed documentation provided.