FCPS students take global challenges head on, one science fair project at a time

Mar. 25—Sprawled across the Tuscarora High School gymnasium on Saturday was a sea of scientific curiosity and innovation from middle and high school students throughout Frederick County.

Each student set their sights at different distances: the microscopic, exploring bacteria and antibiotic properties, and the macroscopic, developing robots through coding and technology.

What almost all students had in common at the 42nd Frederick County Science and Engineering Fair, however, was their desire to solve modern challenges and change the world for the better.

The high school grand prize went to Tuscarora High School's Jeanelle Lin and Alek Tekeyan for their robotic hand that could sign part of the American Sign Language alphabet from vocal and typed inputs.

Tarun Malarvasan, Kathrik Muthukkumar and Pranav Sristy of Urbana High School were the fair's overall runners-up in the high school division for their robotics project that linked a depth-perceiving camera with a handheld module to indicate nearby objects.

In middle school, Lincoln Moody, who is home-schooled, was the overall winner for his project on resonance rejection.

Shreya Parmar of Urbana Middle School was the runner-up for a project on water pollutants.

The high school finalists will have an opportunity to represent Frederick County at this year's International Science and Engineering Fair in Dallas.

Saturday's science fair participants also received a slew of awards from partnership organizations and the International Science and Engineering Fair organization, as well as cash prizes.

The Urbana High School sophomore duo of Avery Radwinsky and Benson Zhang care about the environment and are deeply concerned with Chesapeake Bay pollution from fertilizer runoff.

Their project tested three basic — as in, high pH — eco-friendly compounds that could be applied to soil and reduce the acidity brought on by nitrogen-based fertilizers.

They hoped that, if successful, the most effective compound could be spread along the perimeter of farmland after a farmer fertilizes crops.

That way, when rain and topography move water and fertilizer through the soil, the compound on the perimeter could neutralize the runoff before it reaches a Chesapeake tributary.

Their experiment showed that one compound in particular, sodium bicarbonate, was most effective in doing so. The project's relative success made them feel as though solutions to environmental problems are out there, waiting to be discovered.

"We found a solution, and sure it's not prime time, ready for the fields," Radwinsky said. "But, it really lets you know that there are solutions to problems in the environment."

Her partner, Zhang, said being able to explore smaller-scale solutions to issues like this one eased their broader concerns about global issues like climate change.

"And so we just came together and we thought of something that we could do that was in our abilities, but that could also contribute to helping the environment," Zhang said.

Tuscarora senior Roni Madilo sought to explore a more personal scientific inquiry with his experiment.

Madilo tested the effects of Moringa oleifera, a tree endemic to the Indian subcontinent whose powder is used by his family members for its health benefits.

"My family has a history of high blood pressure," Madilo said. " And my parents have used [Moringa] to mitigate those risks and symptoms of high blood pressure and things like that."

Madilo wanted to see just how Moringa's properties could benefit human health. He did so by adding the solution of the powder to plates containing E. coli and measuring how the solution affected the E. coli's growth.

His findings suggested that the Moringa solution was effective in inhibiting the E. coli's growth.

"When it comes to my family, I learned that it was truly an effective method ... to combat those viruses and diseases," Madilo said.

Other students developed technologies to assist people with visual impairments and hearing difficulties. One created a robot that could aid rescue workers in responding to collapsed buildings.

Colleen Beall, a curriculum specialist for FCPS and an organizer for the fair, said the scope of the questions and students' curiosity to explore them is one of the best aspects of the science fair.

"They're all just amazing and creative," Beall said. "I'm a big advocate for science fair because it also brings up more questions. They might have started with one question and then by doing the project, the research, it generates even more."