Voting opens for best student doodle

Today, Google announced 400 state finalists and 40 regional finalists in its annual Doodle 4 Google competition, which challenged students to design a Google logo inspired by the theme "If I Could Do Anything, I Would..." Entries in this year's competition reflected the exploration of earth and space, the discovery of new medicines and environmental cures, and the hope for a better world, among many others.

Starting today, the public will be able to vote for their favorite doodle from the 40 regional finalists and will help Google select four national finalists (one per grade group). Voting will be open from May 18, 2010 6:00 a.m. PDT until May 25, 2010 5:00 p.m. PDT.

On May 26, 2010 all 40 regional finalists will be invited to an awards ceremony at Google's New York City office, where the national winner will be announced. The students will then go to the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York City, where the 40 finalists' doodles will be showcased in a national exhibit which will run from from May 27 to July 8, 2010. The winning student's doodle will also be displayed on the Google homepage on May 27, 2010. The champion "doodler" will win a $15,000 college scholarship and a $25,000 technology grant for his/her school.

To view a full list of winners and vote online, see: http://www.google.com/doodle4google/vote.html