SAGINAW, MI - While sports teams across the state had their seasons canceled, some students showed their skills in a different type of competition.

Students from area high schools participated in the first Flint Regional Science and Engineering Fair. The fair was held online due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and allowed mid-Michigan students to compete for some science-based bragging rights.

This first round of virtual competition included only Senior Division (high school) projects.

Students were able to showcase their projects to compete for special awards from local, regional and national organizations, which ranged from certificates, to gift packages, summer camp programs and even college scholarships. The top three Senior Division winners won cash awards, recognition and eligibility for the International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF), an FRSEF-sponsored experiential event, and a four-year scholarship to the University of Michigan-Flint.

Students from the Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy (SASA) swept the competition and took those coveted top three places at this years event.

SASA Senior Benjamin Schall took first place for a project that titled DNA Damage Induced By Cell Phone Rf Radiation." Schall also earned a Special Award from the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services.

Taking second place was SASA 10th grader Nicholas Shepich for the project titled Traffic Signal Color Detection Using The Pixy2 Camera. Meanwhile, SASA 9th grader Andrew Wagner project Engineering A Superior Bumper Reinforcement System With A Piezoelectric Force Sensor In High Energy Collisions took 3rd place.

Other individual students from Mid-Michigan snagged special awards for their projects and are listed as follows:

- Vanessa Burkhard, Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy, The Effects of Polymer Degradation on Stentor coeruleus.

- Nathaniel Watson, Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy, Red vs. Blue: How Clothing Color Affects Perceived Dominance and Assertiveness.

- Isaac Hales, Valley Lutheran High School, Up Cycling Paves The Way To Better Infrastructure.

- Mariah Collins, Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy, Fabricating Bone Scaffolds Using PEEK Incorporated with Hydroxyapatite and Carbon to Enhance Mechanical Properties.

- David Wang, H.H. Dow High School, Quantum Computing.

- Katie McCarthy, Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy, Calculating the Concentrations of Nonmetals in Water Samples Leading to Harmful Algal Blooms in Previously-Fertilized Areas.

- Shiloh Maliskey, Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy, Using Gypsum to Reduce the Urban Heat Island Effect.

- Malhar Amin, Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy, Accelerating Enzymatic Reactions in E. coli Encoded with the Lux Operon to Increase Luminosity.

- Akshanth Bandla, Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy, The Disaggregation Properties of Epigallocatechin Gallate on Amyloid Fibrils Formed From Beta-Lactoglobulin Aggregation and The Effects of Epigallocatechin Gallate on Caenorhabditis Elegans.

- Gabe Howald, Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy, A Study of Language Efficiency.

- Rayen Aouadi, Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy, Comparing Different Machine Learning Models and Their Effectiveness In Predicting Data.

- Katrina Wells, Birch Run High School, It Will All Come Out in the Wash: The Filtration of Microplastic Fibers in Washing Machine Discharge Through a Valvular Conduit.

- Reece Metcalfe, Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy, The Effect of Alcoholic Hand Sanitizers Compared to Non-alcoholic Hand Sanitizers.

- Braydon Evans, Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy, The Effects of Fungi on Varying Bacteria.

Excellence and team awards were also given by McLaren Healthcare to groups from area high schools. The following excellence awards were given to the following members for their projects:

- Excellence in Cellular and Molecular Biology team award: Therese Joffre, Grace Bremmer, and Logan McNamara, from H.H. Dow High School and Midland High School, for their project, Fabrications of Scaffolds for Bone Repair and Regeneration.

- Excellence in Biochemistry awards: SASA students Armaan Mahajan, for An In Vitro Evaluation of the Effects of Resveratrol and Amygdalin on Cell Division of Lytechinus variegatus Zygotes; Audrey Wong, for her Concentration of CaCl2 on Transforming Bacteria"; and Serena Ahmad, for her project, The Physiological Effects of High-Fructose Corn Syrup 55 on Vanessa cardui.

- Excellence in Medicine and Health Science awards: SASA students Bhanu Mamillapalli, for the project Preventing Skin Cancer with Precise Photochromic Indicators; and Pratham Patel, for Effects of Dopamine on Regeneration Rates of Planaria.

Originally posted here:
Students in Saginaw, Midland win honors at first Flint Regional Science and Engineering Fair - MLive.com