On Saturday, April 12 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Niles West science students from all grade levels will travel down to University of Illinois Champaign to compete in the annual Science Olympia.

Science Olympia is run just like normal Olympics, except students compete in different events having to do with building, study, and lab analysis. These problems are given to the students the day of the competition and it is their job to work on their projects during the entire day, or until they have solved or built what needed to be done.

“I think this is a great experience for students to have because they get to travel to a college campus and compete because they are able to see all the different lab rooms,” Science Olympia coach Michael Boll said. “It’s like a college campus tour in disguise, and students can get a feel for areas they could potentially end up in.”

Students will be competing against the top teams in the region, and sometimes, the difference between placings falls upon the difference of a fraction of an inch.