Aaron Hakim represents Canada at EUCYS 2008

September 20, 2008

Aaron Hakim, a grade 12 student from Mississauga, Ontario is representing Canada at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS), opening today in Copenhagen, Denmark. Hakim joins young scientists from 6 other guest countries (Brazil, China, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria and the United States), youth from 22 European Union (EU) member states and 9 EU-associated states to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the contest, which serves as the EU science fair championships. Hakim's project, Microarray profiling of gene expression in the normal aging brain of Drosophila, won a gold medal at the 2008 Canada-Wide Science Fair in Ottawa in May.

The 16 year old Hakim wasted no time in ensuring that Canada was well represented, appearing on the cover of the event's opening day newsletter with three other guest country participants. "Networking with others, and getting to know them is important for me. I really like being exposed to new cultures, so I see the contest as a great opportunity," he notes.

Hakim was selected to participate in EUCYS 2008 by Sci-Tech Ontario in collaboration with YSF Canada. His participation is supported by the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation.

More information on the event, including the daily newsletters, is available at the EEUCYS 2008 web site.