Science Fairs | Supporting local, state and international science and engineering fairs

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California Science and Engineering Fair

Los Angeles, California (24 April 2018)

SPIE Volunteer Judges: Muhammad Al Qaisi, Pamela Blake, Janaka Ranasinghesagara, Chee Wei Wong

Senior Division

Juwon Lee (First Place) University High School Project: Reflectance Spectrosopy Investigation of Calthrate Hydrates

Grady Morrissey (Second Place) Flintridge Preparatory School Project: Building a Bench-Mounted Fiber Spectrograph

Guadalupe Bernal (Third Place) Folsom High School Project: Deep Learning Based Collision Avoidance Algorithm for Mobile Robots in Pedestrian Environments

Junior Division

Sina S. Kassayan (First Place)
La Entrada Middle School
Project: Light Bite: An Optical Measurement Method and Device to Determine the Ripeness of Fruits

Saurav S. Gandhi (Second Place) Juan Cabrillo Middle School Project: Eye Track: An Indoor Navigation System for the Visually Impaired

John Benedict A. Estrada (Third Place) Granite Ridge Intermediate School Project: Comparison of Plant Chlorophyll Measurement Utilizing Ground SPAD Meter vs. a Low Altitude Multispectral Camera

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Minnesota Science and Engineering Fair

Brooklyn Center, Minnesota (9 April 2018)

SPIE Volunteer Judges: Hari Atkuri, Ed Vogel, Timothy Wong

Senior Division

Leonardo Clarke (First Place)
Minnetonka High School
Project: The Relationship Between the Primary Pulsation Period and the Blazhko Effect in RR Lyrae Variables

Nathan Tank, Dylan Vincent (Second Place) Breck School Project: Cellophane to Sensor: Designing a Low-Cost Method for the Detection and Characterization of Oil in Water

Henry Slater (Third Place) Cloquet High School Project: Coring through time: The Stories stored in Big Lake Sediment on the Fond Du Lac Reservation

Junior Division

Thomas Murphy (First Place) Lincoln School Project: The Thermochromic Roof - A New Way for Homeowners to Conserve Energy

Elianan Sileshe (Second Place)

Quentin and Vaughn Huges (Third Place)
Team Project: Vertical vs. Conventional Farming using Refractometer Analysis

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Alabama Science and Engineering Fair

Huntsville, Alabama (6 April 2018)

SPIE Volunteer Judges: H. Philip Stahl, Thomas Cantey

Sophie Guo (First Place) James Clemens High School Project: Ultra-Sensitive Cardiac Biomarker Detection Using Gold Nanocavity Localized Plasmon Resonance for Early Diagnosis of Myocardial Infection

Mary Alice Strong (Second Place)
McGill-Toolen Catholic High School
Project: Kepler-Keck, Double-Check: Confirming Kepler Exoplanet Candidates Using Keck Radial Velocity Data

Aniket Pant (Third Place)
Jefferson County International Baccalaureate High School
Project: Optical Studies of Nanostructures for Biosensing Applications

John Dennis (Honorable Mention) Wetumpka High School Project: A Novel Robotic Fire Extinguishing Device Utilizing Machine Vision for Flame Detection

Jayden Vanterpool (Honorable Mention)
Oakwood Adventist Academy
Project: Can Nanoparticles Prevent Staphylococcus aureus-induced Apoptosis in Endothelial Cells?

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Colorado Science and Engineering Fair

Fort Collins, Colorado (5 April 2018)

SPIE Volunteer Judges: Kirk Cook, Damon Lenski, William Nau, Robert Philbrick

Senior Division

Sarah Tang (First Place) Fairview High School Project: Measuring Exoplanetary Radii using Transit Photometry

Molly Nehring (Second Place) Vista High School Project: Far Out! Analyzing NASA's Kepler Space Telescope Data Using the Transit-Timing Variation Method to Discover Additional Exoplanets in Planetary Systems

Kevin Yang (Third Place) Fairview High School Project: Design of a Novel Energy Saving Radiative Bilayer Paint for Space Cooling

Junior Division

Zachary Isley (First Place)
Turner Middle School
Project:Quantum Entanglement of Photons via Spontaneous Parametric Down Converstion in a KDP Crystal

Nikhila Narayana (Second Place) Rocky Heights Middle School Project: Let It Shine: Altering the Wavelength of Bioluminescent Light to Power a Photovoltaic Cell

Trista Barnett (Third Place)
Dove Creek Middle School
Project: Now you see me, Now you Don’t

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Hawaii State Science and Engineering Fair

Honolulu, Hawaii (29 March 2018)

Samuel Cadotte (First Place)
Kalaheo High School
Project: Using SONAR, LIDAR and Computer Vision to Assist the Visually-Impaired

Gabriel Low (Second Place) Walakea High School Project: Hyperspectral Imagery as a Method of Early Detection for Rapid Ohia Death

Elijah Mossman (Third Place)

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North Carolina Science and Engineering Fair

Raleigh, North Carolina (24 March 2018)

SPIE Volunteer Judges: William Brown, Gandhimathi Muthuselvam, Russell Philbrick, Peter Sotory

Senior Division

Alexander Stewart (First Place) North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Project: Noise Monitoring for the MAJORANA Demonstrator

Alaina Pulley, Kellen Tucker (Second Place) Warren New Tech High School Project: The Effects of a Surfactant on the Power Production of Solar Panels

Carson Campbell (Third Place) South Iredell High School Project: What Variables Affect Solar Panel Output

Junior Division

Dante Watson (First Place) Central Middle School Project: The Eye of the Radar

Aditya Pillutla (Second Place) Fred Carnage GT/AIG Magnet Middle School Project: The Reality of Radiofrequency Radiation

Solomon Hartman (Third Place) The Learning Community Project: Waves of Space

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Washington State Science and Engineering Fair

Bremerton, Washington (24 March 2018)

Ajay Harilal (First Place)
Hanford High School
Project: A Novel Way to Detect Milk Adulteration using a Laser-Based Method

V. Nowka-Keane, Ethan Pyke, Eugene Seubert (Second Place)
Mountlake Terrace High School
Team Project: Innovative Algorithms and Device to Detect and Measure Peripheral Veins to Guide an Intravenous (IV) Catheter

Elizabeth Ruldo (Third Place) Sunnyside High School Project: Enhancement of Respiratory Masks using Plant Mediated and Nanopartical Compounds

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Bay Area Science and Engineering Fair

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (22 March 2018)

SPIE Volunteer Judge: Marjan Razani

Mani Nabovati (First Place)
Alexander’s Public School
Project: The Eco Bird Saver (EBS)

Kevin Sos-Mediros (Second Place) St. Luke Catholic Elementary School Project: Nikola Tesla (Tesla Coil)

Anastasia Anastasakis (Third Place) St. Mary Elementary School Project: Shine with Solar Energy

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North Alabama Regional Science and Engineering Fair

Huntsville, Alabama (21 March 2018)

SPIE Volunteer Judges: H. Philip Stahl, Thomas Cantey

Sophie Guo (Third Place) James Clemens High School Project: Ultra-Sensitive Biomarker Detection using Gold Nanocavity Localized Plasmon Resonance for Rapid Diagnosis

Jayden Vanterpool (Second Place)
Oakwood Aventist Academy
Project: Can Nanoparticles Present Stophylo9coccus Aureus Induced Apoptosis in Endothelic Cells

Alexa Koske (Third Place)
St. John Paul II Catholic High Shool
Project: Impact of Light Starvation on Nanochloropsis Growth

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South Central South Dakota Science and Engineering Fair

Mitchell, South Dakota (March 2018)

Natalie Ketchum (First Place) Tripp-Delmont High School Project: What Can You See?

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Synopsis Alameda County Science and Engineering Fair

Pleasanton, California (17 March 2018)

SPIE Volunteer Judges: Daniel Bristol Thorn, Wenbin Jiang, Jian Yin

Senior Division

Sanjeev P. Thurgam (First Place) Dublin High School Project: Investigating the Correlation Between Saliva and Blood Glucose Levels to Create a Non-Invasive Diagnosis of Glucose Levels through Colorimetric Analysis to Aid Diabetic Patients

Edward Yang (Second Place) American High School Project: An Innovative Approach to Addressing the Needs of the Visually Impaired

Pranshu Chaturvedi (Third Place)
Mission San Jose High School
Project: A Novel Machine Learning Approach using Photoplethysmography and Infrared Spectroscopy to NonInvasivly Analyze Blood Glucose Levels

Junior Division

Rohan Karunaratne (Third Place)
Stratford School
Project: A Real Time Tactile Image Generator for the blind and Visually Impaired

Sasha Masson (First Place) Challenger School Team Project: Solar Spectrum

Sidharth Anand (Third Place)

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Badger State Science and Engineering Fair

Milwaukee, Wisconsin (17 March 2018)

SPIE Volunteer Judges: Michael Pinkert, Sofia Romero Ferrufino, Peyton Uhl

Nabeel Quryshi (First Place)
University School of Milwaukee
Project: Role of Telomerase in Vascular Function and Exploration of Mitochondrial Dynamics: A Novel Approach to Treatment of Vascular Dysfunction

Riyana Chawla and Ishan Raikar (Second Place) Waukesha West High School and Brookfield Central High School Team Project: Materials that Protect Solar Cells While Maintaining Cell Productivity

Jacob Calvino and Clovens Herrera (Third Place)
Team Project: A Device to Minimize Bat Mortality from Wind Turbine Collision

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IJAS Region 9 South Suburban Student Science Fair

Aroura, Illinois (17 March 2018)

SPIE Volunteer Judge: George Magerl

Zoe McKillip (First Place) Bednarcik School Project: Starlight on the Spectrum

Reesa Espera (Second Place) Clifford Crone Middle School Project: Effect of Color of Food Dye on Wavelength of Physics Maximum Absorbance

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Western Reserve District 5 Science Day

Akron, Ohio (17 March 2018)

SPIE Volunteer Judges: Julie Vanegas and Qi-Huo Wei

Senior Division

Parker Ernst (First Place) University School Project: Protection of Retinal Cells from Light-Induced Apoptosis

Robert Sunderhaft (Second Place)
Kenston High School
Project: Smart Mirror

Tingzhang Li (Third Place)
St. Vincent-St. Mary High School
Project: Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) of a Small Molecule Drug Distribution in 3D Printed Polymer Scaffolds

Junior Division

Nathan Jones (First Place) National Inventors Hall of Fame School Project: What Places in our Solar System are most Suitable for extraterrestrial Life?

Adam Khan (Second Place) Stanton Middle School Project: The Interaction of the Electric Field and Liquid Crystals

Mehul Lakhanpal (Third Place)
Incarnate Word Academy
Project: Does the Angle of a Solar Panel Affect Battery Charge

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Chicago Public Schools Student Science Fair

Chicago, Illinois (16 March 2018)

SPIE Volunteer Judge: George Magerl

Victoria Gasienica (First Place) Dever School Project: Heliotracker

Sofia Rodriguez (Second Place) Addams School Project: Measuring Sugar Content with a Laser Pointer

Anna Szwajnos (Third Place) Dever School Project: Ready, Set, Grow

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Orange County Science and Engineering Fair

Costa Mesa, California, 14 March 2018

SPIE Volunteer Judges: Tommaso Baldacchini, Arjun Karroy, Anna Wang

Senior Division

Ofir Dvir (First Place) Woodbridge High School Project: The Effect of the Type of Fabric and its Color on the Transmission and Reflection Rates of UVA Rays

Kelly Pham (Second Place) Villa Park High School Project: Cool Colors: The Effect of Color on Emission of Infrared Photons

Juwon Lee (Third Place)
University High School
Project: Ultraviolet - Visible Reflectance Spectroscopy Investigations of Bromine Clathrate Hydrates Formed from Deuterated Water

Junior Division

Leslie Diamant (First Place) Southlake Middle School Project: Effectiveness of Radiant Barriers on Home Cooling

Jordan Simon (Second Place)
Fairmont Private Schools
Project: The Race of Light

Zakaria Obeid (Third Place)
Minaret Academy
Project: Make it Glow

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Northeastern Ohio Science and Engineering Fair

Cleveland, Ohio, 13 March 2018

SPIE Volunteer Judges: Rafat Ansari and Terry Schubert

Kaz Kojima (First Place) Broadway Creek Homeschool Academy Project: Pupillography Image Analysis for Measuring Pupillary Light Reflex

Gal Pinhasi (Second Place) Beachwood High School Project: Vision Bot

Deztany Clay (Third Place) Horizon Science Academy Cleveland High School and Case Western Project: Optical Viewing

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IJAS Region 6 North Suburban Student Science Fair

Skokie, Illinois (10 March 2018)

SPIE Volunteer Judge: George Magerl

Afzal Muhammad (First Place) Niles West High School Project: Optimizing Solar Cell Performance with a Diffracting Prismatic Lens

Melissa Castro (Second Place) Christian Liberty Academy Project: Red Hot

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14th Annual Southwest Ohio Science and Engineering Expo

Cincinnati, Ohio, 10 March 2018

SPIE Volunteer Judges: Bob Trusty and Frank Fago

Laalitya Acharya (First Place)
Project: A Novel Approach to Generate Energy from a Multitude of Sources: Piezoelectric, Low Flow HydroPower and Photovoltaic Cells

Arvind Prasad (Second Place) Sycamore High School Project: Novel Design to Determine Sun Protection Factor (SPF) for Natural Products

Lauren Trusock (Third Place) Mother Teresa Catholic Elementary School Project: Sun-Sational Protection Against Skin Cancer

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Seminole County Regional Science and Engineering Fair

Sanford, Florida (3 February 2018)

SPIE Volunteer Judges: Gerald Holst and Carl King

Rubina Torzaddeh (First Place) Tuskawilla Middle School Project: Spectacular Spectrum!

Timothy Sheehan (Second Place) Crooms Academy of Information Technology Project: How do Transparent Materials Affect the Speed of Light Waves

Gabriella Conde (Third Place) Lawton Chiles Middle School Project: How is the bioluminescence of marine dinoflagellates affected by changes in the light/dark cycle?

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Akron Science, Mathematics and Technology Expo

Akron, Ohio (27 January 2018)

SPIE Volunteer Judge: Julie Vanega

Paul Nemer (First Place)
Firestone Community Learning Center
Project: The Significance of Anti-Phospholipase Antibodies in a Patient with Membranous Nephropathy

Luke Morber (Second Place) Miller South School for the Visual & Performing Arts Project: Plant Power

Brenae Greer (Third Place) National Inventors Hall of Fame Middle School Project: pH Imbalance

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Intel International Science and Engineering Fair

Los Angeles, California (14-19 May 2017)

SPIE Member Volunteers: John Tamkin (Lead), Bartosz Bornik, Pramod Butte, Pangyu Ten

Nicky Wojtania (First Place) Plano West Senior High School (United States) Project: Cellulose Nanocrystals for Security Applications: Embedding Non-Optical Signatures Provided by Nanoparticles into Cellular Nano

See more winners from the 2017 Science Fairs that SPIE supported.