The California Science and Engineering Fair (or CSEF), previously known as the California State Science Fair, is a science fair held annually in Los Angeles, California. It serves as the final science fair of the academic year and is a feeder competition to the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and the Thermo Fisher Junior Innovators Challenge (TFJIC). First established in 1952, CSEF was designated the state's official science fair in 1990 and ran its 74th fair in 2025.
Every year, roughly 900 students from middle schools and high schools across California compete across two divisions and eighteen categories for the chance to win over $30,000 in prizes.
History No fair was held in 2020 as officials cited the COVID-19 pandemic as grounds for cancellation. The 69th was deferred to 2021.
Qualification The fair is fed by 28 regional science fairs, each of which is allocated a number of projects based on their number of participants. Projects can qualify by either placing first or second in their category at these fairs. The allocation in 2009 was 908 projects, an average of 24.7 projects per million population.
Fair Located in Number of projects Humboldt County Science Fair Eureka, California 16 Modoc County STEM Fair Alturas, California 6 Mendocino County Science Fair Ukiah, California 10 Glenn County STEM Expo Orland, California 6 Colusa County Science and Engineering Fair Colusa, California 6 Nevada County Science Fair Grass Valley, California 6 Solano County Science Fair Vallejo, California 6 Contra Costa County Science and Engineering Fair Danville, California 18 Golden Gate STEM Fair San Francisco, California 32 Alameda County Science and Engineering Fair Alameda, California 25 Sacramento Regional STEM Fair Sacramento, California 21 Calaveras County Science Fair San Andreas, California 6 San Mateo County STEM Fair Atherton, California 20 Santa Cruz County Science and Engineering Fair Watsonville, California 38 Synopsys Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship San Jose, California 101 San Joaquin County Science Fair Stockton, California 8 Merced STEM Fair Merced, California 6 Monterey County Science and Engineering Fair Salinas, California 21 San Benito County Science Fair Hollister, California 6 Fresno County Science Fair Fresno, California 50 Tulare County Science and Engineering Fair Porterville, California 6 Santa Barbara County Science Fair Santa Barbara, California 23 Kern County Regional Science Fair Bakersfield, California 36 Ventura County Science Fair Camarillo, California 35 Los Angeles County Science and Engineering Fair Pasadena, California 94 SIM Science and Engineering Fair San Bernardino, California 23 Riverside County Science and Engineering Fair Riverside, California 38 Orange County Science and Engineering Fair Orange, California 81 Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair San Diego, California 89
Awards Awards, given in several categories across both divisions, are posted shortly after the fair ends each year. Roughly two to three projects amongst the first-place Senior division category winners are chosen to advance to ISEF.
At the 2009 fair, major awards included the Patricia Beckman Project of the Year Award—David Zarrin of Redwood Middle School, Saratoga won the Junior Division ($5,000 award) and Anna K. Simpson of Patrick Henry Senior High School, San Diego won the Senior Division ($10,000). There are also many special awards sponsored by various organizations, some with cash prizes.
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References
External links California Science and Engineering Fair California State Science Fair: Affiliates