At the White House Science Fair, US President Barack Obama not only admired the projects students presented, but also encouraged more women to enter science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, the New York Times reports.
"Half our team we're not even putting on the field," Obama said at the event. "We've got to change those numbers."
At the fair, a Brownie troop that described a bridge that can withstand flooding, a pair of Massachusetts students presented a robot that could rescue people who've fallen through ice, and 19-year-old Maria Hanes displayed a cushions for football to help prevent concussions among players, among other projects.
The Guardian has pictures of numerous projects here — and don't skip its witty captions.
"As a society, we have to celebrate outstanding work by young people in science at least as much as we do Super Bowl winners," Obama added. "Because superstar biologists and engineers and rocket scientists and robot builders, they don't always get the attention that they deserve, but they're what's going to transform our society."
He also announce a new initiative funded by the Department of Education to train math and science teachers and an expansion of AmeriCorps to help teach math and science to low-income students, according to the Associated Press.