Time to shine a Spotlight on Young Innovators!

Nominate inspired Youth for the Ontario Science Centre's 2013 Weston Youth Innovation Award

TORONTO, Nov. 6, 2012 /CNW/ - We know they're out there, and we're asking for your help. The Ontario Science Centre is seeking nominations for the prestigious Weston Youth Innovation Award. We're looking for Canadians aged 14 to 18 who have used science and/or technology to find solutions to real-world problems in new and creative ways. Successful candidates will have put their ideas into action, making a positive change either locally or beyond their communities.

Created to encourage and recognize young Canadian innovators, the award gives youth the opportunity to share their ideas and to be featured at one of Canada's most popular attractions. The winning applicant or team will receive a $2,000 prize, travel expenses to attend the award ceremony in Toronto and an Ontario Science Centre membership.

The winner's work will also be featured in an animation created by the Science Centre's award-winning graphics team, to be broadcast in the Weston Family Innovation Centre, the current-science hub in our attraction which welcomes more than one million visitors each year. The animation will also be posted online to inspire other youth to think, work and collaborate in new ways.

"We are looking for Canadian youth who are already on their way to using science and technology to make a positive impact in their communities or beyond," said Catherine Paisley, Ontario Science Centre's Vice President of Science Education. "We want to recognize and promote their efforts so they can be an inspiration to their peers and to all of us."

Do you know someone who might qualify? Please contact us: [email protected]. Students are also invited to put their own names forward, please encourage potential candidates to apply.

Nominations must be received by February 1, 2013. An external jury will make a selection in April 2013 and the winner will be announced on the website by June 15, 2013.

Detailed information about the Weston Youth Innovation Award and information on past winners can be found at www.OntarioScienceCentre.ca/innovationaward.

About the Weston Youth Innovation Award

The Weston Youth Innovation Award was established in 2008 to encourage and recognize young Canadian innovators and was named in recognition of The W. Garfield Weston Foundation's $15 million lead gift to the Ontario Science Centre's 'Agents of Change' initiative. This national award builds on the Foundation's longstanding tradition of support to educational initiatives for Canadian youth.

About the Ontario Science Centre

The Ontario Science Centre delights, informs and challenges the communities we serve, enriching people's lives and understanding through engagement with science of local, national and global relevance. Since 1969, the Ontario Science Centre has welcomed over 46 million visitors, with an interactive approach that was the model for Science Centres around the world. It is the public centre for innovative thinking and provocative dialogue in science and technology, aiming to inspire a lifelong journey of curiosity, discovery and action to create a better future for the planet. The Ontario Science Centre is an agency of the Government of Ontario. Please visit us at OntarioScienceCentre.ca. Facebook: www.Facebook.com/OntarioScienceCentre. Twitter: @OntScienceCtr.
YouTube: www.YouTube.com/user/OntarioScienceCentre. 

SOURCE: Ontario Science Centre

Anna Relyea
Director, Strategic Communications
Ontario Science Centre
416-696-3273
[email protected]