On select Saturdays from October through February, qualified high school juniors from Western Pennsylvania participate in lectures and hands-on exercises at the George Westinghouse Research and Technology Park. A wide variety of topics are presented in the lecture portion of each session, with subjects such as:

• NASA's project to send humans to Mars
• the identification of Czar Nicholas II
• nuclear energy and radiation
• human fat as a source of stem cells
• launching a career in engineering
• anatomic double-bundle ACL reconstruction
• gravitational waves
• meteorology
• taming complexity
• molecular biosensors

Students are encouraged to ask questions and interact with the lecturers during or after the presentation. The lecturers are at the top of their fields, and most have demonstrations to heighten subject interest.

Students will be assigned to varying project teams throughout the session. Teams will work together on group projects and exercises designed to support the individual lecture topics. Participating members of the team that wins the final group project competition will be awarded U.S. Savings Bonds, provided they are eligible to receive a WSHI Certificate of Completion.

Each Saturday begins with a light breakfast and mandatory team exercise time at 8:30 a.m. Lectures start at 10:00 a.m. and finish at approximately 11:30 a.m. Students who attend at least seven lectures OR six lectures and one trip to Penn State and who actively participate in the group exercises and projects will receive a WSHI Certificate of Completion.

Students may also opt to take a voluntary exam to compete for scholarships and awards. The exam is held immediately following the final session, is open book, and consists of ten modules - one for each of the lecture topics. Students are allowed 90 minutes to complete all the modules. Lunch is served during the exam.

Each speaker designs his/her own exam module and grades that part of the exam on a scale of ten. Given the time pressure and the amount of material covered, what seems an elementary question to an expert usually turns out to be a challenge to the students.

Typically, 125-150 students accept the challenge and sign up for the exam. For 2008-2009, following is the list of scholarships and awards which will be given to the top exam finishers who are eligible for Certificates of Completion: