Annual · Free to enter · Judged on merit

The Young Aviator Award

Every year, one student project in aerospace, drone, or radio technology at the Santa Cruz County Science & Engineering Fair earns more than a ribbon: a scholarship, a trophy, and a mentor for whatever they build next. No entry fee. No purchase. Ever.

The award

What the winner receives

Scholarship Paid directly to the student's family for education expenses

$500

Trophy & certificate Presented at the fair; winner featured on this page (with family consent)

—

A year of mentorship Four sessions with our Ph.D. mentor for the winner's next project

—

Judging

How it's judged

Selection follows the same standard our founder applies as a three-time county fair judge — and to keep it clean, any student we have mentored or taught is ineligible for the award that year.

Criterion

Weight

A real question The project asks something measurable, not something Googleable

30%

Honest method Controls, repeated measurements, limitations stated out loud

30%

The student's own hands Built, coded, or measured by the student — mentored is fine, ghostwritten is not

25%

Communication Can they explain it to someone's grandmother and defend it to an engineer?

15%

For the community

Put your name on a young scientist's start

Named awards for sponsors

Local businesses and families can fund additional awards — "The [Your Name] Young Aviator Award" — presented alongside ours under the identical merit-based judging. Sponsors get the naming, the photo, and the goodwill; students get recognition they earned. Sponsorship never influences judging, and we put that in writing.

Sponsor an award