Web site big hit for science fairs

John Gudenas thinks in terms of experiments.

The Aurora University professor has conducted experiments for as long as he can remember.

As a boy, he built and shot off rockets in the park.

By: ALEX L. GOLDFAYN. Alex Goldfayn is a Buffalo Grove-based writer
Published April 19, 2003

Later, he participated in the high school science fair. As a high school sophomore, Gudenas’ science fair project resulted in a blown electrical transformer, leaving homes in a five-block radius without power.

"Other people were drawing power too," Gudenas laughed. "It wasn’t just me. I just pushed it over the hump."

So it should come as no surprise that the computer and information science professor purchased a science fair Web site from a college student for $3,000 three years ago. It was, in part, an experiment.

"No doubt about it," Gudenas said. "The whole thing was an experiment."

The site, SciFair.org, has one purpose: to help students, teachers and parents with science fair projects. It features sections on how to set up an experiment and details the scientific method. There are links to Internet resources, organized by type of science.

One of the unique features at SciFair.org offers free e-mail answers to students’ questions.

Gudenas has a "crew" of seven people–including high school teachers, retired professors and "educated citizens in science"–accepting and responding to students’ inquiries.

It is all done on a volunteer basis. Yet, with the high volume of incoming questions–last year there were about 7,000 e-mails to SciFair.org–the burnout rate is high. So Gudenas keeps an additional 15 people "on reserve" to rotate in.

If the site’s popularity is any indication, the experiment has been decidedly successful.

In January–the peak month for science fair activity–SciFair.org had more than 240,000 visitors and more than 1 million hits from around the world. Visitors have come from China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Samoa, Poland and Kenya.

"The activity is absolutely phenomenal," said Gudenas.

So phenomenal–and so overwhelming–that he recently donated the site to the Society of Amateur Scientists, a support organization for amateur scientists.

But Gudenas is still in charge of SciFair.org. It’s his passion.

"If I manage to turn on three or four people to become scientists in the course of the year, I figure I’ve done something worthwhile."

And what is his take on the experiment’s results?

"This has been an incredibly rewarding experiment and experience," he said. "It has been emotionally rewarding to receive statements from students about their success in the science fair. They would not have got that far without somebody helping them."

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Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune

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