About BASEF

Where We Are

The Bay Area Science and Engineering Fair draws students in grades 7 through OAC from the City of Hamilton (including Ancaster, Dundas and Stoney Creek) and the Regional Municipality of Halton (including Burlington, Oakville and Milton).

Our History

The Spectator's Roy Middleton was instrumental in founding The Hamilton District Science and Engineering Fair in 1960. Since that time many thousands of young people from the regions of Hamilton Wentworth and Halton have benefited from their participation in this event. Some have gone on to achieve further success at the national and international levels, and many are now active in careers related to science and technology. Several continue to be involved with the fair at the organizational level.

The fair attracts 400 participants annually, from grade seven to OAC. We are affiliated with the Canada Wide Science Fair and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, and several of the top projects from our fair are sent on to compete at these events. Our students have competed favourably against the top young minds in the world, and have brought home many prestigious national and international awards over the years.

Our Mission

To encourage young people in science, engineering and technology.

Our Goals

• To encourage interest in science, engineering and technology.
• To conduct an annual fair for the exhibition and competition of scientific, engineering and technology projects by students in grades seven to OAC from all schools within the Region of Halton and the new City of Hamilton.
• To award prizes and to send competitors to the Canada-Wide Science Fair and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.
• To co-ordinate activities in science, engineering and technology as a part of the fair experience.
• To promote career awareness.

Our New Name

Some of you may be wondering what happened to the "Hamilton District Science and Engineering Fair" or the "Hamilton-Wentworth & Halton Science and Engineering Fair"; the BASEF is still the same organization serving the same towns and cities around the bay, along and below the Niagara Escarpment, from Stoney Creek around to Oakville. Rather than changing the name of the fair with each change in municipal or regional nomenclature, we've named the fair after the bay, call it Burlington Bay or Hamilton Bay, from around which all of our students, teachers and volunteers are drawn. We don't think that the Bay is going anywhere, so our name shouldn't be changing again any time soon (but if we're wrong, then someone might have a fantastic topic for an environmental science project).

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