Metro Richmond Science Fair Report of Winners
The Metro Richmond Science Fair (MRSF), hosted by the MathScience Innovation Center, was held on Saturday, March 19, 2011 at Godwin High School. More than 530 students from all over the Richmond area submitted their projects in February and 278 were selected to compete in this advanced competition. Trophies were awarded to 106 students in grades 7 – 12.
The Metro Richmond Science Fair is a regional competition which is affiliated with the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF). The Intel ISEF is the largest high school science competition in the world, with more than 1500 students from 65 countries competing for more than $4 million dollars in prizes and scholarships.
Two students were selected as the overall Grand Prize Winners at this year's fair. Samantha Marquez , from Maggie Walker Governor's School, and Jeff Holste, from Godwin High School, were chosen as the top winners in the high school division. They both won an all-expense paid trip to compete at the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair in Los Angeles. Runners up were Robert Jones , of Maggie Walker Governor's School, and Priya Sarkar , of Henrico High School.
The Metro Richmond Science Fair also selected 27 students to advance to the Virginia State Science & Engineering Fair at Old Dominion University where 9 projects were selected as category winners. Two students, Arjun Jaini of Lee-Davis High School, and Katie Hill of the Math & Science High School at Clover Hill, won 1 st Place awards.
For the first time since 2008 the MRSF was able to nominate students to a national middle school science competition, the Broadcom MASTERS Program. Thirty students from the MRSF were nominated to this competition, which is based on the original Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge and administered by the same organization, Society for Science and the Public, based in Washington, D.C. These students must submit their applications, which include essay questions, in an online process. Their applications and their projects will then be judged against all the other entries in the country. Three hundred students will be selected nationwide as Semifinalists. Thirty of those students will be chosen to compete in science challenges in Washington, D.C. in the fall. The top prize is $25,000.
The year's most exciting MRSF news is that one of our winners, Samantha Marquez , won a First Place award in her category, Engineering: Materials and Bioengineering at the 2011 Intel ISEF!! She was then named the “Best of Category” , which means that her project was considered the best materials and bioengineering project in the world!! Samantha was awarded a total of $8000 in cash and scholarships for her work. For more on Samantha and the Intel ISEF Click Here.