On Saturday, March 4, over 100 gifted and talented students from the school districts of Roanoke City and Roanoke County, plus the Roanoke Valley Governor’s School, competed in the 2017 Western Virginia Regional Science and Engineering Fair at Hollins University. The following local students received first place awards in their categories at the regional fair:
Ana Barrios, Patrick Henry High School, and Jai’Chaun Paige, William Fleming High School, Roanoke City. Plant Science category tie: “The Effect of Varied pH on Juglone Toxicity on L. perenne”
Izzy Baxter and Alex DeFelice, Patrick Henry High School, Roanoke City Earth and Environmental Sciences category: “Bioprospecting for Cold-Temperature Active Cellobiase to Optimize Biofuel Production”
Carol Chen, Cave Spring High School, and Madelyn Nichols, Hidden Valley High School, Roanoke County. Plant Science category tie: “The Effect of Various Grass Extracts on the Formation of Haustoria by C. pentagona”
Christine Flora, Hidden Valley High School, Roanoke County Regional Fair Grand Award Winner Microbiology category: “Assessing Rice Bran’s Protective Efficacy as a Probiotic Against Rotavirus Infected IPEC-J2 Cells”
Harrison Huang, Hidden Valley High School, and William Luqiu, Cave Spring High School, Roanoke County. Engineering Mechanics category tie: “A Track to Model and Teach One-Dimensional Kinematics”
Kailyn Janiga, Hidden Valley High School, Roanoke County. Regional Fair Grand Award Alternate. Behavioral and Social Sciences/Biomedical Sciences category tie: “The Effect of Acetylcholine on the Expression of MMPs in Glioma Cells”
Elysia Lin, Franklin County High School, Franklin County. Chemistry/Biochemistry category. “The Photocatalytic Effect of Magnetite Nanoparticles on the Degradation of Congo Red”
Caleb McMurtry and Ryan Smith, Patrick Henry High School, Roanoke City. Engineering Mechanics category tie: “Automated System for Controlling CO2 Levels”
Maria Parnell and Ainsley Swartwout, Lord Botetourt High School, Botetourt County. Robotics and Intelligent Machines category: “Acoustic Fire Extinguisher”
Richard Qiu, William Byrd High School, Roanoke County. Regional Fair Grand Award Alternate. Materials Science/Physics and Astronomy category” “A Novel Hybrid Hydrogel – Preparation, Characterization, and Applications”
Matthew Svec, Hidden Valley High School, Roanoke County. Behavioral and Social Sciences/Biomedical Sciences category tie: “Analysis of in vitro Microvascular Models of Diabetic Retinopathy”
Reid Tenzer, Patrick Henry High School, Roanoke City. Regional Fair Grand Award Winner. Biomedical Engineering/Embedded Systems category: “Dilatant Insole to Reduce Damage Inflicted by Peripheral Neuropathy”
Ellen Wood, Patrick Henry High School, Roanoke City. Animal Sciences/Cellular and Molecular Biology category: “Determining the Effect of Connexin-43 Mutations on Intercellular Communication”
All first place award winners advance to the state competition and will next compete at the Virginia Science and Engineering Fair at VMI. As Grand Award Winners of the regional fair, Christine Flora and Reid Tenzer will automatically advance to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles in May. They will spend a week competing at the international fair, and all of their expenses will be paid by the regional fair. Congratulations, everyone!
