Who says that Costa Ricans don’t have imagination?

The Universidad Americana’s 19th edition of their Expotec and their Senior Adult Science Fair drew hundreds of all sorts of useful scientific applications.

Expotec 2012 was open to kids kindergarten through high school who proudly demonstrated 350 samples of ingenuity from 1,200 students.

The Expotec fair was shown in Cedes de Don Bosco while the adult fair was at Universidad Americana. Many older Ticos, whose retirement gives them time to work on a practical application, were represented at the latter.

Their scientific proposals were divided into categories — electromechanical, electronic and information technology, precision mechanics, graphic and architectural design, refrigeration and air conditioning.

At the university, science students got a chance to see the work of 38 adults in fields as varied as hydroponics, turning overripe bananas into vinegar, mangoes into cough syrup, and Styrofoam into varnish.

As might be expected the adult exhibits were more practical and down to earth than the student fair. Their interest differed as well, as shown by their evaluation of cereal of camote for the diet of senior adults.

Expotec has offered a chance for students with a scientific bent to compete in the ISEF Fair to obtain scholarships from sponsoring Intel to study abroad.

“Expotec,” Cedros de Don Bosco director Luis Corral told La Nacion, “is an effort to put the scientific method into practice.”