STEM Expo 2014 Awards Announced

We will be sending 6 of our Placer County students to the California State Science Fair:

Sarah Chang, Western Sierra Collegiate Academy
Rachel Dault, Western Sierra Collegiate Academy
Jonathan Horbaly, Western Sierra Collegiate Academy
Catherine Colella, Western Sierra Collegiate Academy
Cassidy McKee, E.V. Cain STEM Charter Middle School
Anne Lillis, E.V. Cain STEM Charter Middle School


Placer County STEM Expo awarded the following (See notes on categories and groupings):

Environmental Innovation (3rd-12th)

1st Place: "Solar Cooker" by Benjamin Hughes (Grade 5 - 12 Bridges Elementary)
2nd Place (tie): "Soil Ammendments" by Ivana Thomas (Grade 4 - Ophir STEAM Academy)
2nd Place (tie): "Are you ready for some football?" by Alec Hayden (Grade 8 - Bowman Charter )
3rd Place: "Does temperature affect how magnetic trains hover..." by Braden Pettigrew (Grade 6 - EV Cain STEM Charter )

Invention (3rd-12th)
1st Place: "Kitty o'Matic" by Robot Girlz (team) (Grade 5 - Carlin C. Coppin Elementary)
2nd Place: "Hat Flashers" by Hat Flashers (team) (Grade 6 - Ridgeview Elementary)
3rd Place: "Bandage Adhesive Remover" by Tie-Dye Geek Squad (team) (Grade 5 - Carlin C. Coppin Elementary)

Reverse Engineering (3rd-5th)
1st Place: "Wii Controller!" by Andrew Lawton (Grade 3 - Alta Vista Charter)
2nd Place: "How a curling iron works?" by Amy Turner (Grade 4 - 12 Bridges Elementary)
3rd Placer: "Reverse Engineering of a tape measure" by Dakotah Behrendt (Grade 5- 12 Bridges Elementary)

Reverse Engineering (6th-12th)
1st Place: "Toaster - Reverse Engineering" by Navya Kompella, Sai Sanjana Suresh (team) (Grade 7- Buljan Middle)
2nd Place: "Alarm clock alert" by Shreya Dodballapur (Grade 6- Excelsior Elementary)
3rd Place: "Operation deconstruction: blowdrier" by Kara Kleinbach, Lily Rafanan (Grade 6- Excelsior Elementary)

Robotics (3rd-12th)
1st Place: "Implementation of robotic arm with muscle wire" by Nerds of Steel (team) (Grade 8)
2nd Place: "EV3 Robot" by Cyberdynamics (team) (Grade 5)
3rd Place: "Robo- the mobile robot" by Andrew LaVigne (Grade 8 - Forest Lake Christian)

Rube Goldberg (3rd-12th)
1st Place: "Pop the balloon" by Aaron Mikkelson (Grade 6 - Forest Lake Christian)
2nd Place: "Take me out to the ball game" by Devin Sciarrino (Grade 5- Alta Vista Community Charter)
3rd Place: "Zip it" by Benny Rosario (Grade 6, Placer Academy)

Science Fiction (3rd-8th)
1st Place: "A Daughter's Love" by Jimmy Thompson (Grade 8 - Community Christian)
2nd Place (tie): "Controlled" by Kristin Comeaux (Grade 7- Forest Lake Christian)
2nd Place (tie): "Time Keeper" by Isabella Marriott (Grade 7- Forest Lake Christian)
3rd Place: "Speckles the Cyborg Space Sphinx Cat" by Emma Perroset (Grade 3 - Harvest Ridge Charter)

Science Fiction (9th-12th)
1st Place: "User Error" by Zachary Haupt (Grade 9- Placer High)
2nd Place: "The Day Tomorrow Arrived" by Neha Kompella (Grade 11- Granite Bay High)

Scientific Inquiry (3rd-5th)
1st Place: "What is the most effective product to santize hands?" by Audrey Robinson, Claire Daggett (team) (Grade 5- Placer Academy)
2nd Place: "Testing soaps" by Soaperonies (team) (Grade 5 - Carlin C. Coppin Elementary)
3rd Place: "Invincible bubbles" by Jared (J.T.) Willis (Grade 5- 12 Bridges Elementary)

Scientific Inquiry (6th-8th)
1st Place: "Heat be gone: a study of heat transfer in metal foams" by Catherine Colella (Grade 8 - Western Sierra Collegiate)
2nd Place (tie): "How does x-ray radiation affect a seed's germination" by Cassidy McKee (Grade 6 - EV Cain Charter)
2nd Place (tie): "What ingredients work better in anaerobic digestion..." by Anne Lillis (Grade 6 - EV Cain Charter)
3rd Place: "Where does honey get it's antibacterial properties..." by Laura Easton (Grade 6 - EV Cain Charter)

Scientific Inquiry (9th-12th)
1st Place: "Physarum polycephalum perception" by Sarah Chang (Grade 11- Western Sierra Collegiate)
2nd Place: "DNA barcoding" by Rachel Dault (Grade 11- Western Sierra Collegiate)
3rd Place: "Radioactive pebbles and space suits..." by Jonathon Horbaly (Grade 11- Western Sierra Collegiate)

Special Category: Most Innovative use of an Adhesive (click here for information)
1st Place: "Nothin' but net" by Josh Budean, Chris Bozionelos, Tyler De'Raps (team) (Grade 6- Ridgeview Elementary)
2nd Place: "Heat be gone: a study of heat transfer in metal foams" by Catherine Colella (Grade 8 - Western Sierra Collegiate)
 

Note on Categories and Groupings: If there are a large number of entrants in a specific category we sub-divide those categories by age group. There are three different possible configurations: 1 award group (3rd-12th),  2 award groups (3rd-5th 6th-12th), or 3 award groups (3rd-5th, 6th-8th, 9th-12th)