MIT Invitational 2015

Area to advertise for your competitions!
JonB
Coach
Coach
Posts: 345
Joined: March 11th, 2014, 12:00 pm
Division: C
State: FL
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 21 times

Re: MIT Invitational 2015

Post by JonB »

Luo wrote:We're very excited to welcome everyone to MIT in a bit more than a month, and we hope you're excited too! A bevy of important information about the tournament and tournament day has now been posted at http://scioly.mit.edu/tournament-day/, including a schedule, a complete list of team numbers and homerooms, and a tournament map.

Thank you and MIT for a fantastic tournament! You all did a sensational job of hosting the invitational and everyone on the team agreed that the exams were brilliantly (and fairly) written. Hope you all continue this in the future!
User avatar
blakinator8
Member
Member
Posts: 85
Joined: November 11th, 2012, 8:39 am
Division: Grad
State: TX
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: MIT Invitational 2015

Post by blakinator8 »

I agree, it was really a well-run tournament (despite a fire alarm or two) and we had a pretty great snowball fight (snow's still exciting for us in TX). Also, who can we contact to get the photos from the tournament and award ceremony?
Proud member of the Liberal Arts and Science Academy team, 2012-2015
cardboardbelt
Member
Member
Posts: 2
Joined: November 16th, 2014, 12:27 pm
Division: C
State: NY
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: MIT Invitational 2015

Post by cardboardbelt »

When do you think answer keys will be made available?
Luo
Staff Emeritus
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 507
Joined: March 21st, 2011, 1:31 pm
Division: Grad
State: MN
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 13 times

Re: MIT Invitational 2015

Post by Luo »

Thank you to all who attended the inaugural MIT Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament this Saturday. I hope that the tournament was a memorable and valuable experience for all teams, and it was a distinct honor and pleasure to be able to give back to the organization that meant so much to us in high school. Credit is due to the planning committee, event supervisors, and volunteers who devoted literally thousands of hours to making the tournament a success. I am floored and humbled by the tireless dedication I saw in so many people this past week, and I am so profoundly happy that we could contribute positively to the Science Olympiad experience of so many high school students.

The goal of Science Olympiad at MIT was to put on a tournament that would be valuable both for top national teams and for local teams who may have no other chance to experience the full docket of 23 events prior to the state competition (Massachusetts has no regional tournaments). To this end, I am pleased with what we were able to accomplish. In addition to welcoming teams from 14 states, including 17 teams from schools that competed at the national tournament last year, we hosted numerous small and/or brand-new teams from the Boston area.

We are incredibly proud of our event supervisors, each of whom was carefully chosen to write and run challenging, fair, and well-thought-out events. In addition to several national tournament event supervisors (Astronomy, Scrambler, Write It Do It) with decades of experience, our event supervisor field included an International Biology Olympiad gold medalist running Cell Biology, an International Chemistry Olympiad gold medalist running Chemistry Lab, and experienced Science Olympiad alumni, many of whom are national tournament gold medalists themselves, running the rest of the events. To make sure that finances did not pose an obstruction to creating top-notch events, all event supervisors' travel expenses and all event supplies were funded out of the budget of Science Olympiad at MIT, and members of the Science Olympiad at MIT invitational planning committee assembled all event supplies to be ready and waiting for event supervisors at the tournament. Furthermore, all written events were reviewed and approved in advance of the tournament by a committee of experienced exam auditors. Drawing from a deep pool of Science Olympiad alumni at MIT and other Boston-area universities, we made sure that each event was more-than-adequately staffed, with free food (breakfast, lunch, and dinner provided to event supervisors; lunch provided to volunteers and coaches) available to keep everyone well-fed throughout the day.

During the tournament, we experienced an initial 30-minute delay due to a snowstorm, and a further 15-minute delay due to three separate fire alarms in tournament buildings that forced the evacuation of several events and teams at various times throughout the day. These incidents required a rapid and comprehensive mobilization of our volunteers to spread the word among all tournament stakeholders and participants across campus, but in the end did not significantly disrupt tournament operations. The awards ceremony in Kresge Auditorium proceeded without additional delay, thanks to the army of planning committee members and volunteers running score counseling and entry at headquarters.

A Dropbox folder containing blank exams and answer keys for all written events, along with raw scores for mechanical events, was emailed to all coaches after the tournament. Final results of the tournament have been posted on our website at http://scioly.mit.edu/final-results/.

Again, it was a distinct honor and pleasure to direct the inaugural MIT Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament, and I am profoundly inspired by the herculean efforts of our planning committee, event supervisors, and volunteers throughout the entire process. I hope that this tournament serves as a prototype for a new age of Science Olympiad tournaments, run by experienced Science Olympiad alumni, that synthesize the best elements of past tournaments to place the competitor experience above all and provide an unparalleled experience for competitors and coaches alike.

We welcome your feedback at scioly [at] mit [dot] edu. Wishing you all the best for a successful remainder of the Science Olympiad season.
Proud alumnus of Mounds View High School Science Olympiad, Arden Hills, MN
Co-founder of the MIT Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament: http://scioly.mit.edu/
User avatar
CulturallyScientific
Member
Member
Posts: 176
Joined: December 29th, 2011, 7:13 pm
Division: Grad
State: CA
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: MIT Invitational 2015

Post by CulturallyScientific »

I'm about a week late, but Luo (and the rest of the planning committee), thanks for putting on an amazing invitational! Really really grateful to everyone, and even though there were some naysayers when it came to the tournament delays and some of the events, I really don't think I've ever been to a more professionally run competition, especially for a first one. I can honestly say that out of all the competitions I've been to, States or Regionals or Invites, MIT was my favorite. Thanks again from all of us! :)
'16, she/her, environmental-scientist-to-be: green gen, invasives, disease, ex. design, widi.

"…everything flows in an eternal present." (James Joyce)
itsnotjustrocks
Member
Member
Posts: 10
Joined: January 24th, 2015, 7:58 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: MIT Invitational 2015

Post by itsnotjustrocks »

Culturallyscience,I've only heard boasting that we got to go. I have heard not one nayseyer. except for my friend who I hit right before he said 'no!" but his fault cause he was in the way of the direction of the trajectory of the snowball that was already in motion and heading his way before he said no. I was naysaying when I couldn't find the bathroom but then I found it in time. Next year maybe they can offer two invitationals at MIT so both divisions get to go. Wouldn't it be cool to have states there too. Also some of us were glad they bothered to postpone events 30 minutes so nobody got messed up due to the storm. Sometimes they just make the tournament shorter by taking out stuff and that is a drag when it is your event dumped. Even in the storm they ran every event which is pretty amazing.
Luo
Staff Emeritus
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 507
Joined: March 21st, 2011, 1:31 pm
Division: Grad
State: MN
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 13 times

Re: MIT Invitational 2015

Post by Luo »

Selected photographs from the MIT Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament have been posted at http://scioly.mit.edu/final-results/. Thank you to Staly Chin and Victor Hung for photo-documenting the day!
Proud alumnus of Mounds View High School Science Olympiad, Arden Hills, MN
Co-founder of the MIT Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament: http://scioly.mit.edu/
User avatar
aditi
Member
Member
Posts: 132
Joined: October 16th, 2014, 4:48 pm
Division: B
State: PA
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: MIT Invitational 2015

Post by aditi »

Luo wrote:Selected photographs from the MIT Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament have been posted at http://scioly.mit.edu/final-results/. Thank you to Staly Chin and Victor Hung for photo-documenting the day!
Luo,

I'm part of a Division B team. We would be thrilled if there was an MIT Invitational next year for Division B! MIT did a great job running the invitational. I'm sure that the invitational was awesome, but it would truly be amazing if the invitational could extend to Division B.

Thanks!
It's been scientifically proven that people who have more birthdays live longer... ;)
Scientists say that the world is made of protons, neutrons and electrons. They forgot to mention morons. :lol:

Image

Code: Select all

[list][list=][*][img][url][album][best=][profile][rules][score][test][userpage][wiki]strange[/wiki][/userpage][/test][/score][/rules][/profile][/best][/album][/url][/img][/list][/list]
Luo
Staff Emeritus
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 507
Joined: March 21st, 2011, 1:31 pm
Division: Grad
State: MN
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 13 times

Re: MIT Invitational 2015

Post by Luo »

Thank you for letting us know of your interest. We are aware of considerable demand for an MIT Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament for Division B, and our planning committee is actively considering ways to expand our reach and enhance the Science Olympiad experience of as many students as possible without sacrificing quality. It is important to note that the "carrying capacity" of MIT facilities is 60-70 teams, so holding a Division B invitational would require halving the number of teams to ~30 per division or holding a Division B invitational on a separate day.
Proud alumnus of Mounds View High School Science Olympiad, Arden Hills, MN
Co-founder of the MIT Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament: http://scioly.mit.edu/
Luo
Staff Emeritus
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 507
Joined: March 21st, 2011, 1:31 pm
Division: Grad
State: MN
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 13 times

Re: MIT Invitational 2015

Post by Luo »

We're proud to announce that the MIT Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament was featured on the Scientific American website today at http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/fro ... on-part-1/. Dr. Dustin Schroeder, the Astronomy event supervisor and keynote speaker at the MIT invitational, along with Dr. Susannah Burrows, volunteer for Dynamic Planet at the MIT invitational, were interviewed for the article. I find that it is often difficult for outsiders of Science Olympiad to really appreciate the crucible for development that Science Olympiad is, and I think this article takes a great stab at communicating the profound impact that Science Olympiad can have, and has had, on people like us.
Proud alumnus of Mounds View High School Science Olympiad, Arden Hills, MN
Co-founder of the MIT Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament: http://scioly.mit.edu/
Locked

Return to “2015 Competition Advertising”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests